quote:
[Thabo] Mbeki called for the minute's silence at a ceremony for those killed in a recent wave of attacks on foreigners in South Africa."The executive secretary of Sadc [the Southern African Development Community] called me to say the president of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa, had passed away this morning," he said, reports Reuters news agency.
But the foreign affairs department later issued a "clarification":
"The South African Government has been informed that President Mwanawasa has not passed on.
"President Mbeki regrets the misunderstanding; and on behalf of the government and on his own behalf, wishes President Mwanawasa a speedy recovery."