King Mswati III of the landlocked Southern African state of Swaziland has not been seen in public for more than two weeks after being taken ill at a ritual beer festival. It is believed that he may have been poisoned following rivalry between two of his eight wives, and in a dramatic move the Libyan president, Col Moammer Gadafy, has sent 10 doctors to the capital Mbabane to help cure him.
In addition to the help provided by President Gadafy, the Swazi court has called on its citizens to pray for the king's recovery and large crowds have been visiting the capital's Catholic cathedral as a result.
The illness is only one of many mysteries surrounding the Swazi royal family at present. It is understood that the king's senior wife, Queen Sibonelo Mngomezulu, left Swaziland last Thursday night after the poisoning allegations gained strength and that she is now in London. She had tried to leave the country earlier in the week with her two children, Princess S'khanyiso Dlamini (13) and Prince Lindani (10) but was arrested at the Matsapha airport and questioned.
Relations between King Mswati and Queen Mngomezulu have been very tense. She flew out to London, where her father is the Swazi High Commissioner, without the king's permission earlier this year, after a controversial interview with a South African magazine in which she was strongly critical of her husband's behaviour.
The queen has been at odds for some time with the king's youngest wife, Ms Senteni Masango, and is accused of having leaked stories to the local media about the young woman's record of truancy and poor performance at school.
The king's private secretary, Mr Paul Shabangu, has confirmed that the monarch became ill during the beer festival. Reports in the South African press have quoted "palace insiders" as alleging that King Mswati complained of stomach cramps after eating a special breakfast prepared by Mngomezulu.
Initially King Mswati, who is an absolute monarch, was treated at a private clinic in the South African capital Pretoria but was flown home to Mbabane after the Libyan medical team arrived in a specially chartered Boeing 707.
Swaziland is currently in the throes of a cholera epidemic and there is strong evidence that a serial killer has also been on the rampage. The remains of 28 people were discovered recently in the Malkerns Forest in the south of the country.
