Sudan President recovering from minor surgery in Saudi Arabia

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan's news agency reports that President Omar al-Bashir is recovering from a minor surgery in Saudi Arabia.

The presidential press secretary Emad Sidahmed told SUNA Tuesday the surgery was successful and al-Bashir is expected to leave the hospital in "the next few hours." He didn't say what the surgery was.

The agency had reported Monday that al-Bashir was heading to Saudi Arabia for a medical checkup related to an inflammation of the vocal cords. Media reports last month had said al-Bashir also underwent surgery on his vocal cords in Qatar.

Al-Bashir, 68, is Sudan's longest serving president since independence in 1958. He came to power in a 1989 military coup. In 2009, an international arrest warrant was issued against him over charges of war crimes in Darfur.