Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi dies at 57

The late Meles Zenawi

Ethiopia's government has officially announced the death of the East African country's long-time Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the age of 57 following a long battle with an undisclosed disease.

According to the government announcement relayed by the country’s state television, the ailing prime minister died on Monday in Brussels, Belgium just before midnight after ‘contracting an infection.’

Displaying poor health conditions, the premier had been admitted to the hospital in July.

In early August, despite the premier’s not having appeared in public for about two consecutive months, an Ethiopian government spokesman dismissed reports about his critical illness and claimed that he was in "a good condition and recuperating."

Reports suggested at the time that Meles was suffering from a form of stomach malfunction and had been brought to a Belgian hospital to undergo necessary treatment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hailemariam Desalegn will now be in charge of the cabinet, state media announced.

Meles, who took power a decade ago as a rebel leader and ousted the country’s communist ruler, Mengistu Haile Mariam, ruled the African nation from 1995 to 2012, and was a major ally of the United States in Washington’s so-called war on terror.