Zimbabwe officials deny Mugabe illness reports

Reports that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital are untrue, according to government officials.

The Zimbabwe Mail reported on its website that the president was seriously ill and that cabinet meetings of his coalition government had been suspended.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, also said some members of Mugabe's family had since joined him after flying to Singapore on a chartered private jet Saturday evening.

Two officials of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, who declined to be named, said the website report about the 88-year-old leader was incorrect.

"The president is well and away on a private holiday to help his daughter prepare for postgraduate studies, but we are expecting him home this week," one of the officials said, according to Reuters.

"But some sick and malicious people are spreading false stories about him being seriously ill while others are saying he is dead or dying out there."

Mugabe is thought to be suffering from prostate cancer, the Mail reported. He visited Singapore eight times last year.

His spokesmen said the visits were either holidays or for routine cataract surgery.