Dalai Lama discharged from hospital: witnesses

Posted 09 2 2008 9:09AM

MUMBAI (AFP) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was Monday discharged from a Mumbai hospital, witnesses said, four days after he was admitted with "abdominal discomfort."

The 73-year-old Nobel laureate smiled and waved as he emerged from Mumbai's private Lilavati Hospital, an AFP photographer said. He shook hands with hospital staff before leaving in a bullet-proof car.

The Tibetan leader's spokesman, Tenzin Takhla, has said the Dalai Lama has cancelled all engagements for several weeks and would shift to a Mumbai hotel for several more days of rest.

A spokesman for Lilavati hospital declined to comment on his state of health, but Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the Dalai Lama was "very fine."

"There is nothing to be worried about. The doctors have advised that he take some more rest," Rinpoche told AFP from the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, where the government-in-exile is based.

In recent weeks, the Dalai Lama has had a hectic itinerary as he campaigned for improved human rights in Tibet while China hosted the Olympic Games.

On Saturday, he joined Tibetans in a 12-hour fast to draw attention to the human rights situation in their homeland and pray for world peace.

The Tibetan monk fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.

Violent protests against Beijing's rule broke out across Tibet in March, sparking a heavy Chinese crackdown that drew global condemnation.