Brunei sultan in KL hospital for 'fatigue'

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday due to fatigue, the Malaysian prime minister has confirmed. 

The sultan is in Kuala Lumpur with other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders, who are meeting on Tuesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and dignitaries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Asked at a news conference whether the sultan had been hospitalised, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said: "Well he's feeling a bit tired, so he's resting at the (National Heart Institute)."

A Malaysian government source earlier told AFP the sultan "was hospitalised in between the ASEAN-GCC and ASEAN-GCC-China summit".

"The National Heart Institute is the designated hospital for VIPs during the course of this ASEAN summit and relevant meetings," they said. 

The hospital said it could not comment, but another Malaysian government source separately confirmed the news to AFP.

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Sultan Hassanal, 78, ascended the throne in 1967.

He is the world's longest-reigning monarch and one of the richest people on the planet. 

He comes from a family that has ruled Brunei, a small Muslim nation perched on the north of the tropical island of Borneo, for more than 600 years.

His decades ruling Brunei have seen the country gain full independence from Britain and living standards soar to among the highest globally.

But his reign has also been marked by controversies including the introduction of tough Islamic laws legislating penalties such as severing of limbs and death by stoning.

llk-jhe/reb/mtp