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Blair progressing after heart treatment

By Hasan Suroor

FINE AND FIT: The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, going through his paces on a rowing machine at a hospital in Bournemouth in this October 1 file photo.

LONDON OCT 20. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was reported to be progressing today after emergency treatment for a heart complaint on Sunday, triggering a wave of speculation about his political future.

Mr. Blair was taken ill at his country retreat at Chequers, and rushed to hospital where he underwent several hours of therapy to stabilise his heart beat caused by "supra ventricular tachycardia," leading to shortness of breath and palpitation.

He was advised rest for 24 hours, forcing him to stay home on Monday, perhaps for the first time in six years that he has been Prime Minister.

While doctors and Downing Street sought to play down Mr. Blair's illness, the media buzzed with speculation about its impact on his career and there were suggestions that he might be forced to delegate powers and reconsider his plans to have a go at a third term as Prime Minister.

Officials, however, insisted that he was `fine' and there was no cause for worry.

Downing Street said Mr. Blair was "feeling under the weather" when he decided to go to hospital on Sunday.

"There it was established that he had an irregular heart beat and a cardioversion was administered to regulate it. This was completely successful. He was in hospital for four to five hours and is now back at No 10."

Mr. Blair's sudden illness was widely ascribed to his punishing 16-hour-day schedule, and the pressures brought on by the Iraq war on the one hand, and domestic political difficulties on the other.

The stress has often shown on his face, and those who have met him have remarked that he appears to have "aged'' considerably in recent months.

At 50, Mr. Blair is Britain's youngest Prime Minister in living memory, and a bit of a fitness freak. Only recently he told an interviewer, "I feel great physically. I do more exercise today than I have done since I was at school. I pay more attention to looking after myself, I watch my diet a bit. But really I find it's exercise that's fantastically helpful for coping with stress."

On Monday, as "get well" messages poured in to Downing Street, his aides indicated that he would be back at his desk tomorrow.

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