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Mwambulukutu still in critical condition in Pretoria hospital
2008-01-03 09:02:02
By Gadiosa Lamtey
The condition of the outgoing Tanzanian ambassador to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwambulukutu, who was attacked by gangsters last week, is still critical.
Mwambulukutu, whose tenure of service ended recently and was about to leave South Africa for another assignment, is currently in the intensive care unit in a Pretoria hospital.
He was attacked together with his wife and other people at a party organised to bid him farewell.
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation deputy minister Seif Iddi told The Guardian by telephone yesterday that the ambassador was still admitted to Pretoria East Hospital where he was hospitalised after the robbery.
He said he had talked to the doctors attending him who told him of positive responsiveness of the ambassador to the treatment administered on him.
Iddi appealed for patience from Mwambulukutu`s family and asked Tanzanians to pray for the sick envoy because his condition ``is still bad.``
``I urge the family of the ambassador not to worry and I ask them to be patient and do not lose hope,`` the deputy minister said.
Mwambulukutu was beaten and his wife stabbed and wounded in a robbery during a dinner to bid him farewell in Pretoria late last Friday, according to South African police.
Police spokesman Paul Ramaloko said seven people were admitted to hospital after the attack at the home of a fellow Tanzanian that left ambassador Emmanuel Mwambulukutu unconscious and his wife with a stab wound on the head.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, and attacks on high-profile figures, including diplomats, have sparked new calls for a crackdown on violent crime.
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