Ramallah, Palestine — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remained in hospital Monday, a spokeswoman said, a day after being admitted with complications following an ear operation.

A spokeswoman for the Istishari Arab Hospital near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank said the 83-year-old was doing well but there was no timeframe for his discharge as yet.

Abbas's health is the subject of regular speculation, with no clear successor identified.

Senior official Saeb Erekat downplayed fears about his condition late Sunday.

"The president is suffering from an inflammation of the ear that developed following the operation he undertook recently," Erekat told AFP.

A source familiar with his condition had earlier said he was suffering from chest pain and a high fever.

It is the third time Abbas has been in hospital in a week, initially for the ear operation on Tuesday then for tests on Saturday.

In February, he underwent what was then described as routine medical tests in the United States.

Abbas won a four-year term as president in 2005, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections.

Dr. Saed Al-Sarahneh, medical director of the hospital, spoke outside the private hospital late Sunday, saying that Abbas had entered in the morning "for medical tests after the surgery he had three days ago in his middle ear. All the tests are normal and his medical condition is reassuring."

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is headed by Abbas, said on its Twitter account that Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat had visited the leader in hospital and quoted Erekat as saying: "the President is in good health".

An aide to Erekat said that Abbas had talked and joked with him, and that Abbas was expected to leave hospital tomorrow or the day after.

One Palestinian official in Ramallah said Abbas had gone back in because of complications after Tuesday’s ear surgery. Abbas had been running a high temperature, he said, "so doctors advised that he go back into hospital".

However, a source at Al-Istishari hospital said the president's condition was unrelated to the ear operation. — Agencies