Guinea President in hospital in Geneva-agency

ZURICH, Mar 18 (Reuters) Guinea's ailing President Lansana Conte has been flown to Geneva for medical treatment after he was recently diagnosed with leukaemia, Swiss news agency ATS reported today.

The news agency said Conte, believed to be in his 70s, boarded a chartered flight to Geneva in Guinea's capital of Conakry and arrived in Switzerland overnight.

He was accompanied by one of his wives, Henriette Conte, Health Minister Amara Cisse, and other members of his circle, the agency reported.

A spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry was quoted by the ATS as saying that Conte was in Switzerland in a private capacity to receive medical treatment. The ATS report gave no details of his exact whereabouts in Geneva.

President Conte, a diabetic, was recently diagnosed with leukaemia while on a visit to Cuba for a health check-up, ATS said, quoting sources close to Conte who requested anonymity.

Conte has ruled Guinea with an iron fist since seizing power in a 1984 military coup. He says he was born ''around 1934'', which would put him in his early 70s.

Rarely seen in public, Conte has survived coup bids and an assassination attempt but many observers fear a dangerous power vacuum should the chain-smoking president not finish his term.

Conte's health has long been subject to media speculation.

In July 2001 Russian news agencies reported he had been taken ill with a suspected heart attack during a visit to Moscow only for Conte to make an announcement on Guinean state radio saying he was feeling fine and planned to go out dancing that night.

Conte won disputed elections in 1993, 1998 and 2003 after a change in the constitution allowed him to seek a third term.

There is no obvious heir apparent and analysts say any sudden departure from the political scene could trigger a military takeover or a tussle for power among his military and political officials.

Reuters CH BS2158