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MILAN - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi fainted as he delivered a speech today and was diagnosed with a minor heart problem, fuelling speculation about his political future.
Berlusconi fell to the floor with his eyes closed as he was delivering the closing address at a gathering of young centre-right followers in Montecatini Terme, in Tuscany. He was taken off stage by aides to be assisted by his personal doctor.
Later, Berlusconi told reporters outside his villa that he was going to Milan's San Raffaele hospital where he would stay the night.
"They found something on the electrocardiogram, something like an irregular heartbeat, so they want to keep me under observation for 24 hours," said Berlusconi, who overcame prostate cancer in the 1990s.
He thanked the small crowd chanting "Silvio, Silvio" before getting into a helicopter to go to the hospital.
Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, went on trial last week charged with fraud at broadcaster Mediaset , which his family controls, the latest in a series of legal battles which have dogged him since he entered politics in 1994.
He denies all wrongdoing.
He said his collapse in the afternoon had been due to tiredness, antibiotics he was taking after a knee operation and the heat at the venue.
His doctor, Umberto Scarpagnini, said immediately after the event that Berlusconi had lost consciousness "for a few seconds due to great fatigue and the extreme heat".
To show that Berlusconi had lost none of his high spirits, his spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti recounted that before leaving Montecatini Terme he was examined by a heart specialist with a long beard. "When Berlusconi saw him he said, 'Oh My God, it's Bin Laden,"' Bonaiuti said.
In a message addressing his arch-rival as "Dear Silvio," Prime Minister Romano Prodi said he was "particularly disturbed and worried to hear about what happened" at today's rally.
"I am sure it's a small problem and I wish you a rapid recovery," Prodi said.
Despite Berlusconi's apparently rapid recovery, the episode is likely to increase speculation about his political future.
Berlusconi has taken a surprisingly low profile since he narrowly lost the April general election. Last week he denied a newspaper report that he told a private gathering he would not lead the centre-right at the next election.
Berlusconi's allies the Northern League and the centrist Union of Christian Democrats (UDC) have distanced themselves from him since the election even though the opposition is now well ahead of Prodi's government, according to opinion polls.
UDC leader Pierferdinando Casini has said Berlusconi may not be the right man to lead the centre-right in the future.
Tensions in the opposition bloc have been exacerbated by the UDC's decision not to participate in a centre-right street demonstration against the government's belt-tightening 2007 budget, to be held next Saturday.
- REUTERS
