Islamabad, December 07: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who abruptly left for Dubai late Tuesday, is said to have suffered a minor heart attack, triggering speculation that he may even resign on account of “ill-health”.
A report published in the Foreign Policy magazine, Wednesday, said, “Zardari left for Dubai on a private visit to meet his children and to undergo some medical tests a day ahead of his scheduled address to National Assembly over the recent NATO attack and the Memogate scandal.”
Though the President’s personal physician Col Salman said the proposed medical tests are of routine nature and are linked to a previously diagnosed cardiovascular condition, the Foreign Policy magazine quoted a former US official as saying that parts of the US government were informed that Zardari had a “minor heart attack” Monday night. He had flown to Dubai via an air ambulance.
Zardari may have to undergo an angioplasty procedure Wednesday and may also resign on account of “ill health”, the report said.
The former US government official said that Zardari was “incoherent” when President Barack Obama spoke with him regarding November 26 NATO’s killing of two dozen Pakistani soldiers.
Before leaving for Dubai, Zardari held separate meetings in the presidency with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Senate Chairman Farooq H NAek and Interior Minister Rehman Malik to review the overall situation, security arrangements for Muharram and legislative business in the Upper House of Parliament, Babar said.
The President was seen off by some parliamentarians and members of his personal staff.
Zardari had planned to address a joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament on a controversy over a memo to Washington that claimed he feared a military coup after the May 2 commando operation to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Zardari has been under tremendous pressure since the memo came to light.
“The noose was getting tighter — it was only a matter of time,” the former official was quoted as saying.
The ex-official noted the growing expectation inside the US government that Zardari may be on the way out, reported Foreign Policy.
In September, Zardari underwent an angiography at a hospital in Britain where doctors gave him a clean bill of health.
Two surgeons from the US too were involved in the medical check-ups along with the British doctors.
Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, in a Tuesday interview said a plan would see Zardari step aside.
Nawaz said, “Unfortunately, it means that the military may have had to use its muscle to effect change yet again.”
–IANS