LUSAKA, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - Ex-Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, on trial for corruption, has been allowed to return to South Africa for medical treatment following the rise in his blood pressure, his spokesman said Friday.

LUSAKA, March 31, 2008 (AFP) - Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa said on Monday that he will not pardon his corruption-tainted predecessor despite numerous requests that have been made to him.

LUSAKA, March 27, 2008 (AFP) - Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was Thursday interrogated over his role in the alleged theft of 7.8 million dollars (about 4.9 million euros) during his tenure, a top investigator said.

LUSAKA, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) - A Zambian court ruled Friday that former president Frederick Chiluba should face a corruption trial in May.

Chiluba would have to show cause why he should not be convicted on charges of theft of public funds and abuse of office, prosecutor Mutembo Nchito told AFP after the ruling by Lusaka Magistrate Jones Chinyama.

LUSAKA, Nov 5, 2007 (AFP) - The Zambian government has allowed former president Frederick Chiluba, who is facing charges of theft of public funds, to leave the country for heart treatment in South Africa, his aide said Monday.

LUSAKA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - The presecution stage in a corruption trial of Zambia's former president Frederick Chiluba finally ended on Friday after three years of delay due to legal technicalities and his illness.

Once the prosecution had finished, magistrate Jones Chinyama set February 14 next year as the date for a ruling on whether Chiluba has a case to answer on the basis of the evidence adduced against him by the state.

LUSAKA, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - Graft-tainted former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba's lawyers Wednesday said nine million dollars (6.7 million euros) found in a London bank account were gifts and not bribes as alleged.

Chiluba, who is accused of stealing 500,000 dollars from state coffers when he led the country for a decade from 1991, has insisted that the money was from personal donations for him which he mixed with state funds in a London account.

LUSAKA, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - Zambia's ailing former president Frederick Chiluba on Tuesday briefly appeared in court in a corruption trial that has dragged on since 2003 and been further delayed by his poor health.

Chiluba, 65, arrived at a magistrate's court in the capital Lusaka with his wife Regina as dozens of supporters cheered him on as he slowly walked inside.

The case could not proceed due to legal technicalities and the magistrate adjourned the trial to Wednesday.

LUSAKA, Aug 12, 2007 (AFP) - Disgraced former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba who was flown to South Africa for medical treatment has returned home ahead of his corruption trial this week, his aide said Sunday.

'He returned home on Saturday. He is still ill and may appear in court depending on his condition,' his spokeperson Emmanuel Mwamba told AFP.

The ailing Chiluba, 65, is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds amounting to 500,000 dollars.

LUSAKA, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - Ailing former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was flown to South Africa on Friday for treatment ahead of his corruption trial, his spokesman said.

Chiluba, who is facing charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, is scheduled to undergo treatment for a cardiac complication at South Africa's Garden city clinic, Emmanuel Mwamba told AFP.

'He will be there until about August 14 though he is not responding well to medication,' Mwamba said.