Nelson Mandela Hospitalized

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela was reportedly hospitalized with an undisclosed stomach ailment, prompting concern about the health of the beloved 93-year-old icon.

Mandela’s African National Congress, South Africa’s governing party, said his hospital visit was not an emergency and that Mandela was in good health.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, has officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010. The Nobel peace laureate became South Africa’s first Black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

Mandela “has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,” President Jacob Zuma said, asking that Mandela’s privacy be respected.

In 2011, Mandela spent a few days in a private Johannesburg hospital with an acute respiratory infection.

Mac Maharaj, Zuma’s spokesman, said he could not immediately elaborate but that he would be issuing regular updates. The South African military, which took charge of Mandela’s health care after he was hospitalized last year, and a spokesman for Mandela’s office said they would have no statement Saturday.

Mandela’s last surviving sibling, a sister, died last month near Qunu. Makhulu Nothusile Bhulehluthi was 82. Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, their father, had several wives and 31 children.