Mandela looking better, president says

PRETORIA, South Africa, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Nelson Mandela is looking better as he recovers from gallstones and a lung infection, South African president Jacob Zuma said.

Zuma visited the 94-year-old former South African president Christmas morning in a Pretoria, South Africa, hospital, the British newspaper The Guardian reported.

"We found him in good spirits," Zuma said. "He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making."

Mandela, president from 1994-1999, retired from public life in 2004 and was last seen in public in 2010, when he attended the closing ceremonies of the World Cup in Johannesburg, the newspaper noted.