Mugabe denies prostate surgery

Zimbabwe's 86-year-old President Robert Mugabe has described reports that he is ill and underwent surgery in Malaysia as "naked lies crafted by the Western-manipulated media".

Mr Mugabe arrived home on Sunday from his annual holiday, and said he had been in Singapore, not Malaysia. Reports in the British, South African and independent Zimbabwean media said that Mr Mugabe was operated on for an inflamed prostate gland.

"Those are the lies they put across from year to year," Mr Mugabe told the fiercely loyal state radio.