(Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe returned from another trip to Singapore for medical checks on Saturday, state media reported.
Mugabe flew to Singapore on Monday for what his aides said was a routine medical check-up, reviving speculation about the health of the 88-year-old leader who has denied reports he has cancer.
State television described Mugabe as “fit and strong” and showed him being received at Harare’s international airport by senior government and security officials.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s only leader since independence from Britain in 1980, has traveled to Singapore eight times in the past year to seek medical attention, according to local media reports.
A June 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year said Mugabe had prostate cancer that had spread to other organs. His doctor urged him to step down in 2008, according to the cable.
In April, aides denied reports by some international media that he was undergoing intensive treatment in a Singapore hospital and was fighting for his life.
Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders who has been accused of holding onto power through vote-rigging, has scoffed at suggestions he is seriously ill and says he is fit enough to contest an election due next year.
