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NEW DELHI, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama is in a stable condition after surgery in India to remove gallstones and is likely to be discharged early next week, hospital officials and an aide said Saturday.
The Buddhist leader, 73, had the keyhole procedure in New Delhi on Friday, a day after he was hospitalised for medical tests after suffering abdominal pain.
A similar episode in August had forced the Nobel Laureate to cancel his engagements and rush to a hospital in Mumbai.
"He is doing fine. He will be discharged maybe in a day or two," said an official at the city's Ganga Ram hospital, where he is being treated.
The Dalai Lama's spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, said the spiritual leader was likely to be discharged from hospital on Monday or Tuesday.
"He is recovering fast but after his release from hospital on Monday or Tuesday he will remain in New Delhi at least for a week for check-ups at the hospital and then he will return to Dharamshala," Taklha said by telephone.
The Dalai Lama is headquartered in the northern Indian hilltop town where he set up base after fleeing from his Tibetan homeland in China in 1959 following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.
The Dalai Lama spokesman said the 1989 Nobel peace prize winner would still visit Japan as planned, as well as resume his Buddhist teachings a week after returning to Dharamshala.
"A scheduled one-week trip to Japan however stands and His Holiness will leave India by the end of this month," Taklha told AFP.
"But right now we want him to get as much rest as possible," he added.
After he was released from hospital on September 1 following tests to determine the cause of the earlier bout of pain, his office cancelled a planned October tour to Germany and Switzerland, citing health reasons.
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 in August.
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.
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