BANGUI, Central African Republic, June 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera has had "routine" health checks in Brussels this week, a spokesman said, rejecting reports he had been rushed to hospital.

Touadera, 68, who has been in power for nearly a decade, went to Belgium for the check-up before attending a summit of the Gavi vaccine alliance, presidency spokesman Maxime Balalou told reporters on Monday.

"He went to do what we call a check-up, that is to say some routine examinations," Balalou said.

According to the statement by the spokesman which AFP saw on Tuesday, Balalou said: "There has been much speculation about the health of the president of the republic, with claims that he is seriously ill, which is false."

Reports in the media and social media have spoken of an "emergency hospitalisation".

The BRDC opposition coalition in a statement on Tuesday described it as an "emergency medical evacuation" in Belgium at dawn on Saturday.

The coalition, which groups opposition parties and civil society, called the declaration by the spokesman "irresponsible".

"I reassure the public, the president of the republic is in very good health," Balalou said, adding Touadera would take part in Wednesday's Gavi meeting in Brussels.

Several political sources in the capital Bangui, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the issue of Touadera's health was "too sensitive" to be discussed publicly.

Touadera was first elected president in 2016 after French military intervention followed by deployment of UN peacekeepers ended a bloody civil war that flared along sectarian lines.

His supporters see him as a peacebuilder who helped restore security in a large part of the country.

Despite the government striking a peace process with 14 rebel groups in 2019, several armed groups have continued to fight and maintain their authority over parts of the country.

The government has secured the main cities and violence has subsided in recent years.

But fighting occasionally erupts in remote regions between the rebels and the national army, which is backed by Russian mercenaries and Rwandan troops.