Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad is fully conscious, talking with relatives and doing light exercise two days after undergoing heart bypass surgery, hospital officials said today.

The 82-year-old former leader spent about five hours on the operating table at Kuala Lumpur's National Heart Institute on Tuesday, after suffering two heart attacks in the past year.

The hospital said in a statement that Mahathir "continued to make good progress" in the intensive care ward and had been started on a liquid diet.

"He is currently undergoing intensive physiotherapy to optimise his respiratory function. In addition Mahathir is also doing light exercises of his arms and legs," it said, adding he would remain in hospital for observation.

Anwar's prayers

Meanwhile Mahathir's ex deputy Anwar Ibrahim prayed for the elder statesman's speedy recovery from his surgery.

"My family and I pray that Mahathir recovers soon after undergoing heart surgery two days ago," he wrote in his blog today.

There are also some murmurs that Anwar would be visiting Mahathir at IJN tomorrow. This could not be immediately confirmed.

Mahathir and Anwar had a spectacular fallout in 1998 in the aftermath of the 1997 financial crisis. Anwar was sacked as both deputy prime minister and Umno's deputy president. He was subsequently charged and convicted of sodomy and abuse of power charges.

Wife looking cheerful

Rural and Regional Development Minister Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin said after visiting the hospital that Mahathir's wife, Siti Hasmah Ali, told him the political veteran was looking cheerful.

"I only managed to speak to Dr Siti Hasmah outside. (Mahathir) was resting in the ward. She also looked very cheerful and spirited," he told the official Bernama news agency.

Mahathir led Malaysia for 22 years before handing power to the current premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2003.

Despite retiring from office, Mahathir remains an influential figure and has become an outspoken critic of his successor, accusing him of economic mismanagement, nepotism and corruption.

In April, Mahathir urged Abdullah to resign from office at the next general election, which is due to take place before 2009.

Mahathir was rushed to hospital in May after suffering a heart attack, his second in a year after a mild episode in November. Mahathir previously had bypass surgery in 1989.