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1 April 2005
BRUSSELS – Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstatdt left hospital on Friday after undergoing a heart operation and has been told to quit smoking.
The Belga news agency reported that Verhofstadt left the university hospital in Ghent at around 10.30 am.
Doctors at the hospital advised him to stop smoking, Belga added.
“I was only an occasional smoker,” Verhofstadt told reporters before adding that he would now give up tobacco altogether.
The Prime Minister is expected to return to work next week and has been told he can begin cycling again in around two weeks.
On Wednesday doctors used a ‘stent’ to unblock one of Verhofstadt’s arteries.
The Prime Minister cut short a holiday in Italy earlier this week after suffering from chest pains.
[Copyright Expatica 2005]
Subject: Belgian news