Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera has had "routine" health checks in Brussels this week, a spokesman said, rejecting reports he had been rushed to hospital.
Touadera, 68, who has been in power for nearly a decade, went to Belgium for the check-up before attending a summit of the Gavi vaccine alliance, presidency spokesman Maxime Balalou told reporters on Monday.
"He went to do what we call a check-up, that is to say some routine examinations," Balalou said.
According to the statement by the spokesman which AFP saw on Tuesday, Balalou said: "There has been much speculation about the health of the president of the republic, with claims that he is seriously ill, which is false."
‘Very good health’
Reports in the media and social media have spoken of an "emergency hospitalisation".
"I reassure the public, the president of the republic is in very good health," Balalou said, adding Touadera would take part in Wednesday's Gavi meeting in Brussels.
Several political sources in the capital Bangui, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the issue of Touadera's health was "too sensitive" to be discussed publicly.
Touadera was first elected president in 2016 after French military intervention followed by deployment of UN peacekeepers ended a bloody civil war that flared along sectarian lines.
Peace accord
His supporters see him as a peacebuilder who helped restore security in a large part of the country.
Touadera in 2019 struck a peace accord with 14 armed groups, essentially bringing warlords into the government.
Although security has improved in the towns, the countryside still suffers bouts of violence.
