Italy's Berlusconi taken to hospital for heart tests

MILAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was being tested for a heart problem in a hospital intensive care unit after collapsing while delivering a speech.

Aides sought to reassure Italians that his condition was not serious but the incident was likely to fuel speculation that Berlusconi, now 70, could step down as leader of Italy's centre-right opposition.

Berlusconi's eyes closed and his legs gave way as he was delivering the closing address at a rally of young followers in Montecatini Terme, in Tuscany, yesterday. He was propped up by aides and taken off stage to be assisted by his personal doctor.

''There is no emergency, no alarm,'' spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti told Reuters, adding Berlusconi was in intensive care at Milan's San Raffaele hospital because his cardiologist heads that unit.

''But it's a good thing he's there because the unit is very well equipped so they can do all the tests necessary,'' he said.

He added that did not know when Berlusconi would be discharged, but he was ''absolutely sure'' he would be fit to lead a major demonstration planned next Saturday in Rome against the government's belt-tightening 2007 budget.

Berlusconi had earlier told reporters outside his villa near Milan that he would spend the night in hospital.

''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.

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