CNN's King doing well after op

Larry King's talk show has run for 22 years

Veteran CNN talk show host Larry King plans to return to work on Monday despite having had arterial surgery on Friday, the network has said.

The scheduled operation to remove a blockage in an artery took place at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA.

King, 73, came through the procedure without complications and was soon alert and talking, CNN spokeswoman Bridget Leininger said.

"He was actually already giving orders to us for Monday," she added.

The interviewee on Monday's Larry King Live will be US presidential candidate Barack Obama.

CNN said in a statement: "Larry is doing great and he is excited to be back on the air Monday night with an interview with Senator Barack Obama as we mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war."

King, who underwent quintuple bypass heart surgery in 1987, will celebrate 50 years in the broadcast business in May.

He has hosted Larry King Live on CNN for 22 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on US TV.

King's success seems largely based on his particular brand of direct, no-nonsense but non-confrontational interviewing, interjected with irreverent humour.

As a result, over the years his show has attracted some of the world's most glamorous and high-profile guests, including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Al Pacino, George W Bush and Tony Blair.