RUSSIA: PRESIDENT YELTSIN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL

(23 Nov 1998) Russian/Nat

Boris Yeltsin was rushed to the hospital with what doctors described as pneumonia, but still received a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin at his hospital bedside.

This is the latest in a series of health crises for the 67-year-old on Russian president.

The Kremlin said Yeltsin was hospitalised on Sunday at the government's Central Clinical Hospital with a high temperature and was being treated with antibiotics.

Opposition leaders are again questioning Yeltsin's ability to govern Russia.

Boris Yeltsin is back at Moscow's prestigious Central Clinical Hospital.

This time Kremlin officials say pneumonia has attacked the Russian leader and led to his admission to the hospital on Sunday.

Yeltsin had been staying at his country home outside Moscow in recent weeks after falling ill in October with respiratory problems.

The president's doctors said this time he was suffering from high blood pressure and exhaustion.

He was due to meet with visiting Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin at his country residence.

But instead the Chinese visitor made his way to the hospital to see Yeltsin at his bedside.

The two leaders were to sign a statement on border demarcation in an effort to expand Russian-Chinese cooperation at what is their sixth meeting together.

A briefing by Yeltsin spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin on the president's health, which was announced on Monday morning for later in the day, was subsequently cancelled without explanation.

Parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov, who was meeting in Moscow with South African Vice President Thabo Mbeki, said it was a shame Yeltsin had taken ill during the Chinese state visit.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
\"It's bad if again if it (the meeting between Yeltsin and Zemin) will be postponed again. But what can you do if someone has become ill after bronchitis.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Gennady Seleznyov, Russian parliament speaker

Opposition leaders were more vociferous, saying it is clear Yeltsin no longer has any ability to govern.

They claim Yeltsin has all but handed over the everyday running of the country to Premier Yevgeny Primakov.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
\"As far as his (Yeltsin's) inability to carry out his duties, it's so obvious, there's no need to comment. By the constitution, the duties of the president are carried out by the prime minister.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Gennady Zyuganov, Communist Party leader

One high-level Duma member said the current situation should be reflected in government legislation to deal with the power crisis.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
\"The question stands how to reconstruct the technology of governing the country.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Shokhin, parliamentary leader of 'Our Home is Russia' party

Yeltsin has rarely been seen in public in recent weeks, raising new concerns about his ability to handle his responsibilities at a time when the Russian economy is in crisis.

The Russian leader's health problems have forced him to cancel a series of foreign visits, most recently a trip to India cancelled last week.

Yeltsin has insisted repeatedly that he will serve out his term, which ends in 2000.

But this latest incident will simply further fuel worries about his ability to do so.

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