Nelson Mandela Is Hospitalized|Nelson Mandela first black president of South Africa

Nelson Mandela Is Hospitalized|Nelson Mandela first black president of South Africa

JOHANNESBURG — Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, was hospitalized Saturday, the office of the country’s current president, Jacob Zuma  announced.

“Madiba has had a long-standing abdominal complaint, and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,” the statement said, using Mr. Mandela’s honorific clan name.

Mr. Mandela, who battled apartheid and spent 27 years imprisoned by the white minority government, is 93 years old, and has been in virtual seclusion for the past two years after retiring from public life eight years ago. His health is closely watched; a hospitalization in Johannesburg in January 2011 set off a panic.

Mr. Mandela’s last major public appearance was in 2010, at the final World Cup game in Johannesburg. For the past year he has spent most of his time in Qunu, the Eastern Cape village where he lived for most of his childhood.

Rumors about Mr. Mandela’s health have swirled for years, even in the days after his release from prison in 1990, when apartheid was crumbling and earnest talks between the African National Congress and the governing National Party began. His lack of bitterness toward the white minority made him a global symbol of reconciliation.

When Mr. Mandela was hospitalized last year, there was fevered speculation in the news media in the face of virtual silence from the government. Reporters spent the night outside the hospital where he had been admitted, and many feared he was at death’s door. But after two nights he was released.

Late Saturday Mr. Zuma released a new statement, saying that Mr. Mandela had undergone a diagnostic procedure and was expected to be discharged on Sunday or Monday.

“Madiba is fine and fully conscious and the doctors are satisfied with his condition, which they say is consistent with his age,” it said. “He was in good health before admission in hospital, but doctors felt the complaint needed a thorough investigation.”

It continued, “We are happy that he is not in any danger