Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela is in a stable condition after undergoing surgery, the BBC reported.

Officials said he was taken to hospital overnight for a "long-standing abdominal complaint", which needed "proper specialist medical attention".

Sources have told the BBC he is talking and likely to leave hospital on Sunday.

The 93-year-old statesman and anti-apartheid icon has suffered declining health in recent years.

Mandela was admitted to the hospital Saturday following an abdominal ailment, the government said.

"Madiba has had a longstanding abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention," President Jacob Zuma said in a statement.

"We wish him a speedy recovery and assure him of the love and good wishes of all South Africans and people throughout the world."

A government official assured the public that Mandela's hospital stay was not an emergency and did not involve surgery.

"People need not panic. This was planned ... Mandela has had abdominal pains for sometime," said Keith Khoza, a spokesman for the ruling African National Congress.

The statement did not disclose the name of the hospital he is staying at, but unconfirmed information says it was a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria.

Journalists waiting outside one hospital have been told to move away or face arrest.

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