Brunei sultan discharged from KL hospital
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has been discharged from hospital and will remain in the Malaysian capital for a few more days to rest, his office said on Saturday.
Sultan Hassanal was admitted to hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday due to fatigue, though his office had insisted the world's longest-serving monarch was in "good health".
"His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah ... praise be to God, is back at the Grand Hyatt Hotel after resting a few days at the National Heart Institute, Kuala Lumpur," his office said in an Instagram post on Saturday.
"Medical experts have advised His Majesty to continue resting for a few more days before departing back to Brunei," it added.
The 78-year-old sultan was in Kuala Lumpur for a summit with other Association of South-East Asian Nations leaders.
A statement from the Brunei prime minister's office -- a position held by the sultan -- on Tuesday said the monarch had been feeling tired and that Malaysian health experts had advised him to rest for a few days at the National Heart Institute.
Sultan Hassanal ascended the throne in 1967.
He is one of the richest people on the planet, and comes from a family that has ruled Brunei, a small Muslim nation perched on the north of the tropical island of Borneo, for more than 600 years.
His decades ruling Brunei have seen the country gain full independence from Britain and living standards soar to among the highest globally.
But his reign has also been marked by controversies including the introduction of tough Islamic laws legislating penalties such as severing of limbs and death by stoning. - AFP
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