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Somalia president not dead yet
(SomaliNet) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf spent a second day in hospital on Wednesday with what government sources called a minor chest problem but others described as very serious, Reuters reports. At Nairobi Hospital, Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur said the president -- who gives his age as 72 but is said by some to be nearer 80 -- was having a "routine check-up" before seeing doctors in London where he had a liver transplant. "We don't like the allegations (that his condition is worse)," he said. "I can tell you that he is OK, he was actually exercising."

Two sources close to the president said Yusuf had a chest complaint that was being treated prior to the stress of intercontinental travel.

Having lived with a transplanted liver for nearly 13 years, Yusuf routinely flies abroad for check-ups and what might be a normal malady in others his age must be closely watched.
Transplanted liver? Hadn't heard that about Yusuf before. 13 years with a transplanted liver is, frankly, pretty damned good. He pro'ly gets better medical care than your average Somali. But a transplanted liver combined with an emergency medical evac to a second-world hospital opens up all sorts of interesting questions.
But a diplomat tracking Somalia said officials were hiding the truth after Yusuf was flown into Nairobi on Tuesday. "He is very, very bad. His stomach is inflated 10 centimeters and he is permanently on an oxygen mask," he said, citing conversations with Somali officials on Wednesday.

If anything were to happen to Yusuf, Somali parliamentary speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe would take over for 30 days while a successor was found, according to the government's charter.
Posted by: Steve White 2007-12-06
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=211621