Looking frail but opening the press conference with his customary "Bongu sinjuri", Labour Leader Alfred Sant yesterday made his first public appearance after a major operation nearly three weeks ago, to confirm that he will be back at the party's helm within a few weeks.

He will be receiving what is known as adjuvent chemotherapy, in the form of pills, over some six months. This, however, should not affect his ability to carry out his duties or even to lead the party into an electoral campaign.

The press conference was clearly aimed at quelling speculation about his future in politics and is likely to close the chapter on the subdued controversy which erupted after The Sunday Times published the full details of his condition, a malignant tumour in the colon.

Yesterday in fact, unlike in previous skimpy briefings and medical bulletins, every last detail of Dr Sant's surgery and prognosis was given, down to the exact type of tumour that was removed.

The press conference was addressed by his surgeon, Anthony Zammit, gastro-intestinal specialist Mario Vassallo and Labour health spokesman Michael Farrugia.

Mr Zammit said the tumour, known as Dukes B, was contained within the part of the colon that was removed during the three-and-a-half-hour surgery.

Results from tests sent to the Royal Marsden Hospital (where a blaze incidentally destroyed some floors on the same day as Dr Sant's samples arrived) showed that the operation had been successful. The hospital, which is a world-class institution specialising in cancer treatment, said that no further tests were required but they did suggest that adjuvent chemotherapy would be recommendable.

The success rate for this sort of surgery (meaning that after the operation the patient would not need any further treatment or surgery) is estimated at 83 per cent. However, research carried out by the Royal Marsden specialists some three years ago shows that this can be raised to 87 per cent if the patient undergoes the adjuvent therapy after the operation.

After having consulted his family and his medics, particularly asking the latter whether the treatment would hinder his political activity, Dr Sant said yesterday that he opted to go for the treatment. "... I believe that four percentage points on the rate of success of the operation I just underwent is a significant increase," he said.

Going over the past weeks, he said he had discovered suddenly that he needed the operation just before Christmas. In the previous weeks he had been feeling weak and tired, particularly when walking uphill but had initially dismissed the symptom as being attributable to overwork.

Eventually he underwent some tests which showed that his red-cell count was unacceptably low, suggesting that he was losing blood which made him aenemic.

After a gastro colonoscopy and a CT scan of his stomach, the tumour was identified and it was decided that he would have to undergo surgery. On December 23 he was given a blood transfusion and he underwent the operation four days after that.

Some three weeks later, he was now "feeling like someone who was making a comeback". It was one of the few light moments in the press conference, shortly after he admitted that he found adapting to this reality difficult.

He thanked the staff at Mater Dei again together with the well-wishers who had shown solidarity with him over the past few weeks.

"Although there are some things which divide us there is a lot that unites us," he said. As expected, he made special mention of his mother, his daughter Martha and his ex-wife Mary Darmanin for being a "source of great courage".

Speaking about the reportage of his operation, which was one of the first things he dealt with in his 15-minute address, Dr Sant said he agreed that in cases involving public figures, details regarding their medical condition should be disclosed. He added, however, that attention should still be given to the rights of the individual and perhaps more than that to the rights and sentiments of his relatives.

In his particular case, he said, things had precipitated in the last weeks before Christmas and he had little time to inform his relatives adequately, wary not to worry them too much.

"In difficult circumstances, I believe that the information given by both the medical team and the Labour Party on what was going on was good."