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Pakistan's beleaguered president was expected to undergo further tests
in a Dubai hospital on Thursday after suffering a minor heart attack
that forced allies to deny frenzied resignation rumours.
Asif Ali
Zardari was on Thursday spending a second day in a UAE bed while facing a
major scandal over to what extent he was involved in alleged attempts
by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's
military.
The deeply unpopular 56-year-old president has a
long-standing heart condition and his admittance to hospital sparked
fevered speculation in the media and on microblogging site Twitter that
he may step down.
As a figurehead president in a country where
power is deemed to lie with the military, he is also away as Pakistan
battles perhaps its worst crisis in US relations after NATO air strikes
killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.
"President Zardari's condition is stable, he is fine, he is OK," presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP on Thursday.
Aides
have so far been unable to say when he will return home, after one
member of the cabinet initially said he would go back to Islamabad on
Thursday.
"It depends on the doctors, when he will be discharged. They will tell after receiving results of some more tests," Babar added.
He said Zardari's illness stems from a "pre-existing heart condition"
and that the president has been fitted with stents. He reportedly
suffered a minor heart attack six years ago.
Mustafa Khokhar, an
adviser to the prime minister on human rights, told AFP that Zardari
suffered a "minor heart attack" and underwent an angioplasty.
Petroleum
Minister Asim Hussain told Geo TV that he was being kept in intensive
care, but only as a means of keeping visitors to a minimum.
An
article published on the website of the US magazine Foreign Policy
sparked fevered speculation Wednesday that Zardari was on his way out,
forcing both Pakistan's presidency and the US State Department to
dismiss the rumours.
"Our belief is that it's completely health-related," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
Babar said the reports were "speculative, imaginary and untrue".
The
Foreign Policy article quoted an unnamed former US government official
as saying Zardari was "incoherent" when he spoke to President Barack
Obama by telephone over the weekend and that he was feeling under
increased pressure.
"The noose was getting tighter -- it was only
a matter of time," the former official said, in what Foreign Policy
called "growing expectation inside the US government that Zardari may be
on the way out".
Zardari took office after the centre-left
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won general elections in February 2008,
three months after his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was
assassinated.
If he remains in office until his mandate ends in
2013 and elections are held, it would be the first democratic transition
of power in Pakistan, where the military has staged four coups and
ruled for more than half the country's existence.
Although Zardari
has survived numerous crises and calls for his resignation, he is under
huge pressure over a memo allegedly written by close aide Husain
Haqqani asking for American assistance in curbing the powerful military.
The
memo sent in May to the then US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Admiral Mike Mullen, sought help over fears of a military coup following
the secret US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.
Mansoor
Ijaz, an American businessman, accused Haqqani of crafting the memo with
Zardari's support. Haqqani denied involvement, but was forced to resign
last month and Zardari is now due to address a joint session of
parliament.
In June, US pollsters Pew Research Center gave Zardari an approval rating in Pakistan of only 11 percent.
In
his absence, his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Senate,
Farooq Naek, a senior member of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
Enlarge PhotoProtesters set fire to a US flag during a protest in Rawalpindi on December 4, 2011. …
Enlarge PhotoFile photo of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who is expected to undergo further …
Pakistan's beleaguered president was expected to undergo further tests
in a Dubai hospital on Thursday after suffering a minor heart attack
that forced allies to deny frenzied resignation rumours.
Asif Ali
Zardari was on Thursday spending a second day in a UAE bed while facing a
major scandal over to what extent he was involved in alleged attempts
by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's
military.
The deeply unpopular 56-year-old president has a
long-standing heart condition and his admittance to hospital sparked
fevered speculation in the media and on microblogging site Twitter that
he may step down.
As a figurehead president in a country where
power is deemed to lie with the military, he is also away as Pakistan
battles perhaps its worst crisis in US relations after NATO air strikes
killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.
"President Zardari's condition is stable, he is fine, he is OK," presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP on Thursday.
Aides
have so far been unable to say when he will return home, after one
member of the cabinet initially said he would go back to Islamabad on
Thursday.
"It depends on the doctors, when he will be discharged. They will tell after receiving results of some more tests," Babar added.
He said Zardari's illness stems from a "pre-existing heart condition"
and that the president has been fitted with stents. He reportedly
suffered a minor heart attack six years ago.
Mustafa Khokhar, an
adviser to the prime minister on human rights, told AFP that Zardari
suffered a "minor heart attack" and underwent an angioplasty.
Petroleum
Minister Asim Hussain told Geo TV that he was being kept in intensive
care, but only as a means of keeping visitors to a minimum.
An
article published on the website of the US magazine Foreign Policy
sparked fevered speculation Wednesday that Zardari was on his way out,
forcing both Pakistan's presidency and the US State Department to
dismiss the rumours.
"Our belief is that it's completely health-related," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
Babar said the reports were "speculative, imaginary and untrue".
The
Foreign Policy article quoted an unnamed former US government official
as saying Zardari was "incoherent" when he spoke to President Barack
Obama by telephone over the weekend and that he was feeling under
increased pressure.
"The noose was getting tighter -- it was only
a matter of time," the former official said, in what Foreign Policy
called "growing expectation inside the US government that Zardari may be
on the way out".
Zardari took office after the centre-left
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won general elections in February 2008,
three months after his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was
assassinated.
If he remains in office until his mandate ends in
2013 and elections are held, it would be the first democratic transition
of power in Pakistan, where the military has staged four coups and
ruled for more than half the country's existence.
Although Zardari
has survived numerous crises and calls for his resignation, he is under
huge pressure over a memo allegedly written by close aide Husain
Haqqani asking for American assistance in curbing the powerful military.
The
memo sent in May to the then US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Admiral Mike Mullen, sought help over fears of a military coup following
the secret US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.
Mansoor
Ijaz, an American businessman, accused Haqqani of crafting the memo with
Zardari's support. Haqqani denied involvement, but was forced to resign
last month and Zardari is now due to address a joint session of
parliament.
In June, US pollsters Pew Research Center gave Zardari an approval rating in Pakistan of only 11 percent.
In
his absence, his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Senate,
Farooq Naek, a senior member of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP).