South African
archbishop Desmond Tutu will remain in hospital in Cape Town "for
another few days" despite making good progress, his foundation announced
Saturday, four days after he was hospitalised with a recurring
infection.
The
83-year-old Nobel peace laureate underwent a "small investigative
procedure" on Friday night to determine the status of the infection that
"he has battled to shake off for several weeks," the Desmond & Leah
Tutu Legacy Foundation said in a statement.
While
his doctors were "satisfied" with the progress of his antibiotic
treatment, he will "remain in hospital for further observation and
treatment for another few days", the foundation said.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostrate cancer 15 years ago.
The
foundation had previously insisted his ailment was unrelated to his
cancer but on Saturday the foundation revealed the two were linked...
"Although
the cancer, itself, was under control, the infection was a consequence
of past treatment that the archbishop had received for prostate cancer,"
his daughter, Reverend Mpho Tutu, said in the statement.
Tutu
was first hospitalised for the infection on July 14. The name of the
hospital where he is being treated has not been divulged.
A
picture released by the foundation this week showed the veteran rights
campaigner in his hospital bed, sharing a joke with former president
Thabo Mbeki who visited the renowned cleric.
Tutu shot to
worldwide fame during the apartheid era, leading demonstrations against
white supremacist rule in a purple cassock while Nelson Mandela was in
prison.
Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
He
is still seen as the moral conscience of the country which he nicknamed
the Rainbow Nation and continues to speak out about injustice, in South
Africa and around the world.