Zambia president Michael Sata returns from Israel

Zambia's President Michael Chilufya Sata waits to address the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine reuters_tickers

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambian President Michael Sata has returned from Israel and celebrated his 77th birthday with friends and family on Sunday, a state-owned newspaper reported on Tuesday.

An Israeli official told Reuters on June 26 that Sata was receiving medical treatment in Israel but did not give details on his condition.

A presidential spokesman was not available to comment.

“We would like to welcome you back home,” family spokesman Chanda Kasolo was quoted as saying in the Zambia Daily Mail.

“We wish you nothing but the best of health and happiness as you continue taking charge of the affairs of the nation,” Kasolo added.

The newspaper also carried a picture of Sata with members of his family taken by the his son, Mulenga Sata.

Sata suffered a heart attack in 2008 and his opponents said he collapsed during a six-week election campaign in 2011, claims the president denied.

Before his victory that year, Sata had contested and lost presidential elections in 2001, 2006 and 2008.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock)