Azerbaijan's Leader Collapses While Delivering TV Speech

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Azerbaijan's Leader Collapses While Delivering TV Speech

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The 79-year-old president of Azerbaijan, Heydar A. Aliyev, collapsed twice during a nationally televised speech there Monday, prompting fresh questions about the health of a leader considered integral to the stability of his oil-producing country.

Mr. Aliyev, who has a history of heart and other health problems, was addressing a military audience in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, when he gasped, clutched his heart, complained of pain and fell. The live television broadcast of his remarks was interrupted while bodyguards rushed over to support him.

More than 10 minutes later, the broadcast resumed, and Mr. Aliyev continued his remarks, making light of the incident.

"I have apparently been bewitched by the evil eye," he told the audience, according to Reuters. "But I'm fine, as you see."

He was not, because he collapsed again, this time hitting his head on the podium or the floor, according to different news reports. The broadcast was interrupted once more.

It then started yet another time, and Mr. Aliyev, upright at the podium, finished his speech.

A statement released afterward by his press service said his health was normal and attributed what had happened to a "sudden fall in blood pressure," which caused him to lose consciousness.

Source: Agencies

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