The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has had surgery to remove at least one gallstone,according to a spokesman.

The keyhole surgery "went without a hitch", according to Tenzin Takhla, a spokesman for the exiled Tibetan leader.

The operation at a New Delhi hospital came six weeks after the 73-year-old Nobel peace laureate spent six days in a hospital in Bombay being treated for abdominal pain.

Doctors said at the time that he was suffering from exhaustion and advised him to rest and to cancel a planned trip to Europe.

The Dalai Lama usually spends several months of the year travelling around the world to lecture on Buddhism and promote his campaign for greater freedom within China.

Earlier today his aides downplayed the gravity of his condition today, pointing out that he recently completed 13 days of Buddhist teachings at his home in north India.

"Overall he is in excellent health," Chhime Chhoekyapa, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama, told The Times.

"He has a slight gall stone problem so that is going to be treated today. I believe this is a relatively simple procedure."

Gallstones - which afflict many men in their 70s - are usually dealt with by inserting a long thin telescope through a small cut in the navel and removing the entire gall bladder under general anaesthetic. The operation generally lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.

The Dalai Lama arrived in Delhi on Monday from Dharamsala, the north Indian hill town where he set up a government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet in 1959.

He was originally due to return to Dharamsala yesterday, but doctors advised him to have the operation now so he could resume his international programme, according to Mr Choekyapa.

He said the Dalai Lama would probably spend the night in hospital before being released tomorrow and could spend a few more days in Delhi to recover from the operation.

He also said that the Dalai Lama would not change his programme, and would visit Japan as planned early next month.

Nevetheless, the operation raises fresh concerns about who will replace him – and how – after he passes away.

The Dalai Lama is traditionally re-incarnated after his death as a small boy who is identified by senior monks following a series of arcane tests.

But the current incumbent – the 14th – said last year that he could forgo re-birth or be reborn while he was still alive.

He proposed holding a referendum among his 13-14 million followers around the world - before his death - on whether he should be reincarnated.

His proposal was designed to thwart the Chinese government's plans to select the next Dalai Lama and thus tighten its grip on the Himalayan region it has controlled since 1950.

Beijing, which claimed exclusive rights to approve all Tibetan lamas'

reincarnations last year, has condemned the Dalai Lama's proposal as a "violation of religious practice and historical procedure".

China intensified its criticism of the Dalai Lama this year, accusing him of orchestrating an outbreak of anti-Chinese rioting across Tibet in March as part of a campaign to win independence for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama denies any involvement in the violence and says he is campaigning for greater autonomy and cultural and religious freedom within China.

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