President Asif Ali Zardari. — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari will be discharged on Thursday from a Dubai hospital where he has spent more than a week but will remain in the Gulf emirate to rest, his spokesman said Wednesday.

“All tests are clear and the doctors plan to discharge the president from hospital tomorrow to take rest at home and continue the heart medication,” Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

“The president is recovering and the doctors have advised him complete rest,” Babar said, adding that Zardari would remain at his house in Dubai.

The 56-year-old Zardari flew to the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday after falling ill in the midst of a major scandal over alleged attempts by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's military.

Babar declined to comment when Zardari would be returning to Pakistan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied that Zardari had suffered a stroke or offered to resign, despite rumours and reports to the contrary.

Zardari, who has a long-standing heart condition, was being treated at the American Hospital in Dubai.

He is facing a major scandal over the extent to which he was involved in any attempts to rein in the military.

Pakistan is also battling its worst crisis in US relations after Nato air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

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