Doctors say Dalai Lama health not serious

By Nishika Patel

MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Doctors treating the Dalai Lama say there is no cause for concern despite him being admitted to hospital in India, and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will take part in a fast on Saturday, aides said.

"He is doing fine. He is undergoing some checkups ... the doctors have told us that absolutely there is no cause for concern," Chhime Chhoekyapa, a senior aide to the exiled spiritual Tibetan leader, told Reuters from Mumbai on Friday.

Personal doctors and aides to the Dalai Lama said he had a "mild problem" and would undergo more tests on Saturday.

"Today and tomorrow he will be in the hospital, but day after tomorrow he might be discharged," said Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the Lama, in Dharamsala on Friday.

The 73-year-old Dalai Lama was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai on Thursday with "abdominal discomfort". He had cancelled two foreign trips after complaining of fatigue.

In recent years, doctors have increased medical checks to ensure that the Dalai Lama was in good health.

A statement posted on the Dalai Lama's official website said he will join, from Mumbai, a 12-hour fast and prayers for peace and freedom that is organized by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner had returned to Dharamsala, the north Indian town where he lives, on Sunday after a two-week visit to France mainly to give lectures on Buddhism, but during which he also criticized Chinese policies in Tibet.

China's crackdown on protests in Tibet in March drew widespread criticism in the international community.

China accused the Dalai Lama and his allies of orchestrating the protests and of trying to derail the Beijing Olympic Games, but he denied the allegations, saying that he supported the Olympics and that the Chinese people deserved to host them.

(Additional reporting by Abhishek Madhukar in Dharamsala; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and David Fox)