NEW YORK (JTA) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was released from a Texas hospital, where he had been admitted with chest pains.
Fayyad, 59, was released Tuesday afternoon from the Seton Medical Center in Austin two days after undergoing a heart catheterization to open a blocked artery. He did not suffer a heart attack, as was reported earlier.
Fayyad, reportedly a heavy smoker, was in Texas for his son’s college graduation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his speech to Congress on Tuesday morning wished Fayyad a speedy recovery.
An American-educated economist, Fayyad has enjoyed good relations with the United States and other Western countries.
The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, citing unnamed sources, reported last week that Fayyad will not be allowed to stay on as prime minister in a new Palestinian unity government. There have been reports that he could serve in the next government as finance minister, a post he had held in previous Palestinian governments.
