Havel out of hospital

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has been released from a hospital where he was treated for two weeks due to an irregular heartbeat, Czech public radio said today.

Havel, who also suffered from bronchitis, entered the IKEM hospital in Prague on January 19 and he is to be treated at his home for another week, hospital spokeswoman Martina Stanclova told the radio.

Havel, 71, was treated for similar heart trouble in 2001.

He has a history of respiratory problems dating from his years in communist jails.

A third of his right lung was removed in December 1996 after the discovery of a cancerous tumor and Havel since has suffered from chronic bronchitis.

Havel was a dissident playwright when he led the 1989 revolution that peacefully toppled communism.

He became president of Czechoslovakia in December 1989 and served as Czech president from January 1993 after the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

His last term in office ended in February 2003.