Body of Zambian president to be flown home: official
LUSAKA (AFP) — The body of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who died in hospital in Paris, will be flown back to Lusaka on Sunday, an official statement said Wednesday.
"The body arrives at the Lusaka international airport from Paris on August 24 at 9:00 am (07H00 GMT)," secretary to the cabinet Joshua Kanganja said in the statement, adding that the date of the funeral had not yet been fixed.
The statement reminded radio and television stations to play solemn music during the seven-day national mourning period which began on Tuesday. Business activities, however, should continue as usual, it said.
Mwanawasa, 59, who had battled poor health for many years, died on Tuesday.
He suffered his second stroke in a little over two years while in Egypt at the end of June for an African Union summit.
He was initially treated in Egypt but was then flown to France where he underwent surgery on Monday after his condition deteriorated.
