Former US president almost punched Thabo Mbeki - report

Johannesburg - Former US president Jimmy Carter has said he once almost punched former South African president Thabo Mbeki during a heated argument of the latter's lack of an HIV/Aids treatment plan.

According to the Sunday Times, Carter, who attended a meeting of the Elders in South Africa last week, told the newspaper that it was the closest he had ever come to punching a head of state. He said the row was over Mbeki, and then minister of health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's refusal to let Aids be treated at the time.

Former president Thabo Mbeki famously denied the link between HIV and Aids. In 1999, Mbeki claimed that AZT - the most suitable ARV at the time - was toxic and refused to make treatment available despite offers of UN aid.

In 2000, Tshabalala-Msimang rejected the offer of free Nevirapine from its German manufacturer, despite the drug being cleared by the US's Food and Drug Administration and the WHO.