AlHijjah 2, 1432, Oct 29, 2011, SPA -- Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has throat cancer and is expected to begin chemotherapy in the coming days, dpa cited a statement Saturday from the Sirio-LibanesHospital in Sao Paulo as saying. Lula, 66, who served as president until the end of 2010, underwenttests on Saturday when a tumor was found on his larynx. A medical bulletin from the hospital said Lula was faring well. After two terms as president, Lula was in 2010 no longer permittedto run for election. He was chief of state since 2003 and left officewith an approval rating of more than 80 per cent. The former union leader celebrated his 66th birthday on Thursday,and this week dedicated a bridge in the Amazon city of Manaus withsuccessor Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff was also diagnosed with cancer, in2009.
