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Dalai Lama discharged from hospital

AFP

The Dalai Lama waves as he leaves the Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Thursday, 16 October 2008. The Dalai Lama had undergone a gall-bladder stone removal surgery on Friday and was discharged Thursday morning, according to news reports.AP/Pankaj Nangia/India

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was discharged from hospital Thursday, nearly a week after undergoing surgery to remove gallstones, an aide said.

The 73-year-old was admitted to a New Delhi hospital with abdominal pain last Thursday and underwent keyhole surgery the following day.

“His Holiness is fully recovered, he has been discharged from hospital this morning. He will be staying in Delhi for a few more days,” the Dalai Lama’s spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, told AFP.

“He will resume his normal travel schedule at the end of the month.”

A similar health-related episode in August forced the Nobel laureate to cancel his engagements and rush to a hospital in Mumbai.

In the weeks preceding his illness, the Dalai Lama had pursued a hectic international itinerary as he campaigned for improved human rights in Tibet while China hosted the Olympic Games.

Beijing has accused him of masterminding riots against Chinese rule in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and neighbouring areas with Tibetan populations in March in order to destabilise the country—a claim he denies.

The Dalai Lama established a base in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala after fleeing Tibet in 1959 following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France-Presse

Published in AFP/Google News