US: The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, has undergone surgery for prostate cancer. He is expected to return to work shortly but on what the state department has described as a "reduced schedule".
The operation, described as a routine intervention, was performed yesterday at an army medical centre in Washington. Mr Powell was expected to remain at the clinic for several days before recuperating at home. A State Department spokesman said it had been planned for some time and President Bush was told about it two weeks ago. Mr Powell had made no plans for foreign trips in the foreseeable future, the spokesman said. His deputy, Mr Richard Armitage, will temporarily assume his duties.
While Mr Powell (66) is expected to make a full recovery and such operations are increasingly common and routine, questions are likely to be raised as to whether the former general and former head of the joint chiefs of staff will want to continue as secretary of state if Mr Bush is re-elected next year.
There were rumours that he had already decided to step down at the end of next year. He has denied such rumours .
Mr Powell was initially one of the more moderate senior figures involved in the Iraq war. He has also been a leading figure in attempts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men. If diagnosed through early screening before symptoms appear, it can be treated relatively simply
According to American Cancer Society statistics, 190,000 cases are diagnosed in the US every year, with about 30,000 men dying of the disease in 2002.