Robert Mugabe plane dash to Dubai sparks fears the Zimbabwe dictator, 92, is close to death
President was on his way to Singapore, where he often visits for medical treatment
SPECULATION is mounting that Zimbabwean dictator has been taken ill.
Flight trackers recorded the plane of the African nation's president making a sharp turn towards Dubai midway through a flight to Singapore.
Mugabe, 92, is known to regularly fly to the Far East for medical treatment due to his country's ailing healthcare system.
But commentators have been at a loss to explain why the Air Zimbabwe plane diverted unexpectedly to the Middle East in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The jet had taken off from Harare for Singapore at 10.45pm on Tuesday.
Speculation mounted when government officials refused to reveal why Mugabe's jet had visited Dubai.
His spokesperson George Charamana said: "Each time you people don’t know the purpose of the President’s visit, there is always a default explanation that he is ill.
“So the life of the President springs between a known mission and illness. If I don’t tell you the purpose, it should be illness.
“I will not give you the purpose of the President’s visit to run away from the default explanation. This is not new.
related stories
"It is year in, year out, he is sick, he dies and resurrects. His life until the age of 92 revolves around illness and death.”
Elderly Mugabe has been president of Zimbabwe since 1987 having been prime minister since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.
He is seen as a hero in the eyes of many Africans for his battle against the white-minority government of the nation - then known as Rhodesia.
But Mugabe became an increasingly-reviled figure over allegations of ethnic cleansing and the forcible resettlement of white farmers.
Zimbabwe has also experienced rampant inflation in recent years.
At one point the inflationary figure ran at almost 80 BILLION per cent.
That lead to the nation adopting the US dollar as its currency last year.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368