Saudi king to undergo new back operation
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Saudi King Abdullah is to undergo another operation on a back problem in a Riyadh hospital this week, the palace announced on Sunday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah is to undergo another operation on a back problem in a Riyadh hospital this week, the palace announced on Sunday.
Medical tests "showed the presence of a slackening ligament in the upper back," it said in a statement carried by the official news agency SPA.
It said doctors decided to operate on the king, 88, next week in the National Guard medical complex where he underwent a similar procedure in October 2011.
In November 2010, King Abdullah was operated on in New York for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a blood clot that put pressure on his spine, and he underwent further surgery the following month.
