African Nationalist Tambo Said to Have Stroke

Oliver Tambo, president of the African National Congress, has had a stroke and has been flown to Britain for treatment, sources close to the movement said Saturday.

The sources said the 71-year-old ANC leader had a stroke Wednesday in Lusaka and was flown to Britain on Friday in a jet belonging to a British multinational company. ANC spokesmen were not immediately available to give details of Tambo’s condition or where he was being treated.

Tambo was absent Thursday from a summit meeting in Lusaka of the presidents of six southern African black countries and the leaders of the ANC, the main black guerrilla group fighting the white government in South Africa.

ANC Secretary General Alfred Nzo represented the movement at the meeting. Asked to explain Tambo’s absence, ANC spokesmen said then that he was on a holiday and having a short rest.

As the leader of the ANC, Tambo is widely seen as a moderate, although he firmly advocates armed struggle as part of the group’s overall campaign to eliminate apartheid.

In London, a spokesman for a British multinational company, Lonrho, confirmed that a company jet flew Tambo, accompanied by a doctor and a nurse, to London.

“Our company jet was in Lusaka on another business mission and was coming back to Europe. With a little rerouting, we were able to be of assistance to Oliver Tambo,” the spokesman said.