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Surgeons removed part of President Vaclav Havel’s large intestine Tuesday in an emergency surgery in Austria that ended his Easter vacation in the Alps.
After a successful 3 1/2-hour operation to remove an area perforated by an inflammation, surgeons in Innsbruck said fears of a malignant tumor were not confirmed.
Havel, 61, has had many health problems linked to lung cancer. But Dr. Ernst Bodner, of University Clinic in Innsbruck, said the president’s latest ailment, acute peritonitis, was unrelated.
If no complications develop, Havel was expected to remain hospitalized for 10 to 12 days.
Havel has been hospitalized four times since December 1996, when he had one-third of his right lung and a half-inch tumor removed.
