Iraqi PM returns home after health checks in London

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki returned home to Iraq late on Wednesday after flying to London for a health check-up and tests on his heart, Iraqi officials said on Thursday.

"His health is very good. The check-up went well," said Sadeq al-Rikabi, a senior aide to Maliki who travelled with him to London.

The director-general of Iraq's Health Ministry, Adel Muhsen, said a battery of tests had been performed on Maliki's heart.

"The doctor told him that he could now do anything, including playing sport," Muhsen told Reuters.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, returned in time for the climax of Arbain, a ritual that is one of the holiest on the Shi'ite religious calendar. Millions of pilgrims have gathered in the southern city of Kerbala to observe it.

(Reporting by Wisam Mohammed; Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)