Mugabe returns to Zimbabwe after vacation

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe returned to his home from Dubai after a weeklong absence from the public eye that fueled speculation about his health.

Mugabe, 85, left the country last week for a regional tourism event in Namibia, missing a Cabinet retreat to review the unity government's 100-day action plan, Kenya's The Daily Nation reported Wednesday.

Zimbabwe's state media referred to Vice President Joice Mujuru as acting president during Mugabe's absence, the Kenyan newspaper said. Mugabe also skipped the burial Tuesday of a former cabinet minister, Richard Hove, who was a member of the Mugabe's Zanu party.

A government official said Wednesday Mugabe was vacationing in Dubai with his family.

"He took his children on a week's holiday before schools open next week. He does this every year. He's back in the country," the official was quoted as saying in an online newspaper.

The Zimbabwean leader is expected to receive South African President Jacob Zuma Thursday to officially open an agriculture show. Officials said Zuma also is expected to meet with officials of the unity government to work through issues facing the power-sharing agreement among Mugabe and his Zanu party, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, also of the MDC.