Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, who underwent surgery in a German hospital 10 days ago, is recovering well and is able to walk and eat, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Mubaral, 81, had his gall bladder and a growth removed from his small intestine in an operation at the University of Heidelberg hospital on March 6.

"He is well. He can walk and is receiving a light diet," said the spokeswoman without indicating when he would be discharged and able to return to Cairo.

According to a health statement released by Egyptian authorities in Cairo on Thursday, tests following surgery showed no cancer and that "tissue removed during the surgery was benign."

Mubarak left intensive care on Wednesday for a normal hospital room, the statement added.

The president has made no appearances in public or on television since the operation and no pictures of him in hospital have been published.

Cairo's stock market lost ground on Monday, with brokers citing uncertainty about the health of the country's leader who has been in power for 29 years and has handed over the reins temporarily to his Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

Mubarak's fifth six-year term as president ends in 2011. During a speech in 2005, he said he would stay in power until his "last breath."

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved