Minister collapses at NATO meet

Colin Powell was among the first to rush to the Belgian minister's aid

REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel has collapsed at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and other NATO foreign ministers rushed to his aid after he fell on a stage.

Michel, who is deputy prime minister in Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's coalition government, keeled over on his way to join fellow ministers in the conference centre for a photo session.

He rose to his feet briefly but fell a second time and lay motionless behind a dais as concerned aides and ministers gathered around.

The photo session continued with ministers looking downcast as Michel lay offstage waiting for medical attention. A doctor eventually arrived and medics put the minister on a stretcher.

He was taken, fully conscious but with an oxygen mask covering his face, to Reykjavik University Hospital for a precautionary check-up, a Belgian official said.

Michel had felt unwell after a hectic spell of overseas trips

Belgian government spokesman Koen Vervaeke said the burly, outspoken Michel had been feeling unwell before the meeting began on Tuesday but there was no cause for alarm.

NATO foreign ministers were meeting to approve a partnership with the alliance's former Cold War enemy Russia for cooperation on terrorism, arms control and crisis management. (Full story)

The two-day summit in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik started on Tuesday, a day after Russia and the United States announced a pact to cut each nation's existing store of between 5,000 and 6,000 nuclear warheads by about 65 percent. (Full story)

Michel came into the NATO meeting tired and felt so sick early Tuesday he considered skipping the opening morning session, a diplomat told The Associated Press.

"He felt terrible. He didn't even want to come," said the diplomat. "He felt too hot in the meeting room and it was too cold outside for him."

The minister was taken to Reykjavik University hospital on a stretcher

Michel's personal spokesman, Jean-Philippe Rousseau, said the most likely cause was exhaustion because the minister had been travelling a great deal in the last two weeks.

He was in South Africa and Rwanda before continuing on to New York for the U.N. summit for children late last week. He arrived Reykjavik for the NATO meeting late on Monday.

"Everything looks fine. He's conscious. He's talking to the doctors," Rousseau told Reuters.

Michel was a German language teacher and university professor in Dutch, English and German literature before entering parliament in 1978.

He has been president of the PRL (French-speaking Liberal Party) in Belgium since 1995. He was previously its President from 1982 until 1990.