Pakistan president ‘probably had mini stroke’

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari “most likely” suffered a mini stroke but is out of intensive care in a Dubai hospital and spent Friday ringing up associates by telephone, party members said.

His illness, which saw him fly to the United Arab Emirates and admitted to the American Hospital late Tuesday, sparked frenzied speculation that the unpopular 56-year-old head of state mired in scandal may be forced to resign.

A cabinet member said earlier in the week that he suffered a “minor heart attack” but a senior member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) told AFP on Friday that the cause was “most likely a transient ischemic attack”.

Medics say there is no lasting damage from a transient ischemic attack, but that it is an indicator of a possible stroke in the future.

They describe a mini stroke that briefly cuts blood flow to part of the brain, leaving the patient with stroke-like symptoms for up to two hours.

The PPP official said that doctors would announce a final diagnosis shortly.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Zardari was out of intensive care and “making satisfactory progress so far as his health was concerned”.

His office said Zardari telephoned Gilani as his son, Bilawal, and the prime minister met members of coalition partners Pakistan Muslim League Q.

Hamid Mir, a news anchor at Pakistan’s largest private TV channel Geo, also took to his twitter account to say that Zardari “called me and said he is fine, will be back soon and his enemies will be disappointed again”.

The Gulf News paper, citing one of Zardari’s close aides at the hospital, said it could even be more than two weeks before he returns home.
“He may leave the hospital and rest in his house under observation of doctors, but we want him to stay here because he needs rest”, the aide said.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, asked whether Zardari suffered a mild stroke, said: “We don’t react to speculations.”

The unpopular 56-year-old president has a long-standing heart condition and his admittance to hospital sparked fevered speculation on microblogging site Twitter that he may step down.

He is facing a major scandal over the extent to which he was involved in attempts to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan’s military.

Pakistan is also battling perhaps its worst crisis in US relations after NATO air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is responsible for the day-to-day running of the fragile coalition government, which is understood to have tense relations with the military, which effectively controls foreign policy.