BREAKING NEWS

Report: Palestinian president Abbas' heart test in hospital, results normal

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underwent a heart function test in hospital on Thursday and the results were normal, a doctor said, after the 81-year-old leader was taken to the facility without any prior public announcement.

Abbas has long been reported to be suffering from heart problems, though Palestinian political officials have never confirmed this.

"The president was hospitalized today for routine tests and we performed a (cardiac) catheterization. The results look normal and he will leave hospital in the next two hours," Saeed Sarahneh, a senior doctor at Istishari Arab Hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, told reporters.

In the procedure, a thin plastic tube is inserted into an artery or vein, and then advances into the heart chambers to diagnose and clear any blockage.