Barbados PM moves to quell rumours that he’s gravely ill...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Prime Minister David Thompson is seeking to quell rumours that he is gravely ill two weeks after he told the nation he was unwell and would be absent from duty for an unspecified period of time.

As the rumours intensified yesterday, Thompson issued a statement from his New York apartment where he and his wife, Mara, have been waiting out his period of medical observations since complaining of severe stomach pains.

In the statement, the prime minister said he was “obediently” following the advice of doctors and his dietitian and looks forward to returning to Barbados on Tuesday, albeit to conduct a much reduced work programme.

He also promised that a formal update on his condition would be issued in another week.

Meantime, Thompson said he was confident relations between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados and Great Britain will be further enhanced with the recent changes in government in those respective countries.

He said Barbados and the region were fortunate to have two new prime ministers, both of whom were on record as expressing a level of commitment to and interest in seeing the islands of the Caribbean develop and progress.

Thompson, the sixth prime minister of Barbados, came to office in January 2008 after his Democratic Labour Party won 20 of the 30 seats at stake in the general election.