Former Prime Minister 'recovering' after surgery 02/07/2007 00:00

KOLKATA, India, July 2, 2007 (AFP) - Former French prime minister Michel Rocard was in a "stable" condition Sunday, the morning after suffering a brain haemorrhage in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, doctors told AFP.

Rocard, 76, underwent emergency surgery on Saturday but was said to be comfortable and recovering after spending a first, critical night in intensive care at the privately-run Kolkata Medical and Research Institute.

"He is OK. He is fully conscious and in a very comfortable and stable condition," G.K. Prusty, the neurosurgeon who led the operating team, told AFP.

"His condition is stable. He is recovering well," he said, adding there were no immediate plans for a medical evacuation.

Rocard served as France's prime minister under the late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991. He is currently a member of the European Parliament.

Rocard was in Kolkata, a city formerly known as Calcutta and the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal, to participate in a meeting organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Rocard's wife, Sylvie, said he began to feel unwell on Friday.

"Michel was having trouble since Friday morning. He was having difficulty in talking to me. When we arrived in Kolkata on Friday afternoon he had trouble walking," she told AFP.

She said his condition deteriorated during a visit to the tomb of Mother Theresa. On Saturday his condition was "rapidly deteriorating", doctors said, and he was operated on for a bilateral subdural hematoma -- a blot clot on both sides of the brain.

"He is getting better and we hope he will be fine in a few days," Rocard's wife said.

She later told French radio station Europe 1 that he could be flown home at the end of next week.

"He has come out of the operation and is perfectly conscious. He wants to eat, he wants to leave, everything is fine," she said.

Rocard was also visited by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

"Michel Rocard's condition is steadily improving. He is conscious, I just talked to him, we exchanged good wishes," Mukherjee said at the hospital, promising the Indian government would provide all necessary assistance.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday that he had spoken to Sylvie Rocard by phone to get news on her husband.

Copyright AFP

Subject: French news