Yeltsin to Go Back to the Hospital

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MOSCOW: After surviving heart bypass surgery two months ago, Russian President Boris Yeltsin is returning to the Kremlin hospital to fight pneumonia. Doctors say Yeltsin, who has been back on the job for only two weeks, had become increasingly ill on Monday, and to prevent further complications, they recommended hospitalizing the 65-year-old president for several days. The president's press service did not indicate when Yeltsin would be admitted. The White House, which received word this week Yeltsin had a case of the flu, also declined commenting on whether the ailing president was presently in the hospital. But the news renewed fears that Russia's ailing president might soon die, precipitating a potentially debilitating Kremlin power struggle. Rushing to provide reassurance, Dr. Renat Akchurin, Yeltsin's heart surgeon, said the president simply had a common cold that was unrelated to his heart surgery. Dr. Akchurin added that Yeltsin's condition "is hardly likely to cause complications." In an attempt to downplay the seriousness of Yeltsin's condition, the Kremlin said several members of his family also came down with colds, including his wife Naina and one of his grandsons.