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Israel's Olmert to undergo prostate cancer surgery

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday he has prostate cancer but that the disease was not life threatening and that he would continue to perform his duties.

Speaking to a packed news conference in Jerusalem, the Israeli leader said the disease had been caught at an early stage and that he would have surgery "over the next few months."

"I will be able to carry out my duties fully before the treatment and within hours afterward," Olmert said. "My doctors ... informed me that there is a full chance of recovery and there is nothing about the tumor which is life-threatening or liable to impair my performance or my ability to carry out the mission which has been bestowed upon me."

"It is a matter of a microscopic growth, it hasn't spread and can be removed by a short surgical procedure. According to the medical opinion, there will be no need for radiation treatment or chemotherapy," Olmert said.

Olmert, 62, took office in March last year after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a debilitating stroke.

One of Olmert's doctors, Yaacov Ramon, said Olmert has a "limited growth" that poses no short-term threat, adding that surgery should eliminate the cancer completely.
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