PRAGUE (AFP) — Former Czech President Vaclav Havel was in "stabilised but serious" condition on Tuesday following surgery, a hospital spokeswoman said, after being treated for an inflammatory disease.
"His condition is stabilised but serious," said Eva Jurinova, spokeswoman for the Prague-Motol hospital.
"He is doing breathing exercises. We can't offer a prognosis now, further steps will be decided tomorrow," she added.
Havel's secretary Sabina Tancevova said on the www.vaclavhavel.cz website earlier that Havel had been admitted to hospital "with an inflammatory disease" and that "he will remain in medical care in the upcoming days."
The 72-year-old hero of the Velvet Revolution, which toppled communist rule in then Czechoslovakia in 1989, has been grappling with health problems that are partly due to the five years he spent in communist jails for his dissident activity.
Part of his right lung was removed in December 1996 after cancer was detected. The former chain smoker has also suffered repeated lung and heart problems.
Havel, also a playwright, was elected Czechoslovakia's president in 1989 and then became president of the Czech Republic formed in 1993, standing down 10 years later.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
