Special report:   2008 Olympic Games    

    LUSAKA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's Beijing Olympics medal hopeful Hastings Bwalya Thursday left Lusaka for Tunisia to complete his training program after the National Olympics Committee (NOC) finally won a battle to secure the his visa, according to Times of Zambia.

    NOC general secretary Hezel Kennedy confirmed that a visa had been secured for Bwalya, a welterweight amateur boxer, and he was put on the earliest possible flight to Tunisia.

    Kennedy expressed happiness that Bwalya would finally be leaving the country because his prolonged stay was neither helping his fitness nor mental readiness for the world's biggest sport showpiece in Beijing.

    "We got a visa this morning and it's good that he goes, it's not worth it to hang around when he should be in serious training in Tunisia. Let him go and get in the right frame of mind to win us a medal," she said Thursday.

    Bwalya's trip to Tunisia was engrossed in a visa complication which prolonged his stay in Zambia after winning a gold at an African championship in Mauritius a month ago.

    Kennedy said that Bwalya would be leaving for South Africa at midday via Zambian Airways and then connect to Tunisia on an Emirates Airlines flight to Tunis via Dubai where he should join up with compatriot featherweight Cassius Chiyanika.