Former French PM discharged from Indian hospital

KOLKATA: Former French premier Michel Rocard, who underwent emergency surgery in Kolkata after suffering a brain haemorrhage, was discharged from hospital on Tuesday and said doctors had performed "miracles."   

Rocard, 76, looked relaxed and cheerful as he walked out of the Kolkata Medical and Research Institute, one of the city's top private hospitals. He was moved to a hotel and is due to be flown back to France on the weekend.   

"I feel quite well, Indian doctors have performed miracles," said Rocard, who served as France's prime minister under the late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991.  

Rocard, currently a member of the European parliament, was rushed to hospital in the eastern city on June 30. Surgeons removed a blood clot from both sides of his brain. On Tuesday he was seen walking normally with only a few stitches on his head. G.K. Prusty, the surgeon who led the operation, said Rocard had suffered no serious damage.   

"He is still taking some medicines. He will stay at the hotel and on Sunday he will be flown to Paris on a specially chartered plane," Prusty said. Rocard was in Kolkata, a city formerly known as Calcutta and the capital of West Bengal state, to participate in a cultural relations meeting.