Abiola `died of natural causes'

Ottawa - A Canadian coroner, Dr James Young, the spokesman for the team who helped perform the autopsy on detained Nigerian opposition…

Ottawa - A Canadian coroner, Dr James Young, the spokesman for the team who helped perform the autopsy on detained Nigerian opposition leader Chief Moshood Abiola, yesterday said extensive laboratory tests had confirmed he died of natural causes and was not poisoned.

Some family members and opposition groups have accused Nigeria's military government of engineering Abiola's sudden death on July 7th. Widespread rioting followed in which at least 60 people died.

Five western experts examined Abiola's body on July 11th and said it seemed clear he had died of heart disease. But they said they wanted to carry out further detailed microscopical and toxicological tests before announcing their final conclusions.