Argentine President Fernandez undergoes cancer surgery

Messages of support are on display outside the hospital in Pilar

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Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is undergoing an operation for thyroid cancer, with doctors saying she has a good chance of recovery.

Supporters are gathered outside the hospital where she is being treated, carrying signs wishing her well.
After the operation she will rest until 24 January, with Vice-President Amado Boudou in charge during her absence.
Ms Fernandez, 58, recently began her second term as president after a landslide election victory.
President Fernandez is being treated at the Austral University Hospital in Pilar, some 60km (40 miles) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
The operation was expected to last some three and a half hours.
People have been holding a vigil outside the building and other gatherings were planned, including in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires and other public squares across the country.
Her office announced last week that cancer - a papillary thyroid carcinoma - was detected on 22 December during routine medical tests.