Heart Attack Kills Bahrain Leader

The emir of Bahrain, a key western ally who struggled to subdue unrest from his Gulf island's Shiite majority, died today after suffering a heart attack at his palace.

Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, 65, died shortly after collapsing, said a royal court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official Gulf News Agency quoted a palace statement as saying that the emir died of a heart attack. The funeral was planned for later today.

Another official, from the Information Ministry, said the emir collapsed not long after a morning meeting with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

It wasn't clear how long the meeting lasted, but the official said the emir was rushed to the hospital shortly after 12:30 p.m. (4:30 a.m. EST).

The Information Ministry official said the emir did not show any signs of ill health before his collapse: "He was perfectly normal."

The transition of power was expected to be smooth because Crown Prince Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has been heavily involved in the day-to-day running of the country.

Hamad, a graduate of the Sandhurst Military Academy in Britain, is the commander in chief of the Bahraini defense forces.

Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf, is home to the biggest U.S. naval base in the region.

Sheik Isa offered facilities to the U.S. Navy, discreetly at first because of likely popular resentment against a foreign military presence, then openly during and after the 1990-91 Gulf crisis.

He also allowed use of Bahraini airfields by British and American warplanes. After the Persian Gulf War he traveled to Washington to sign a security pact with the United States.

Bahrain television began broadcasting recitations from the Koran, the Islamic holy book, a standard practice after the death of a leader in the Muslim world.

Sheik Isa is the first monarch to die in the Gulf region in 17 years, since the death of Saudi Arabia's King Khaled in 1982. Another Arab leader, Jordan's King Hussein, died last month.

A speeding motorcade had accompanied the ambulance that rushed the 65-year-old emir to a hospital in Manama, the Bahraini capital.

Sheik Khalifa underwent a medical checkup in the United States in November and was reported in good health.

His first major ailment was a heart attack in the months after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, when he traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, for treatment.

The emir ascended the throne in 1961.

A wave of anti-government unrest that broke out in December 1994 put the spotlight on Bahrain's relatively deprived Shiite Muslim majority. Activists demanded a return of a parliament that was dissolved in 1975 and a better deal for impoverished Shiites.

Although figures are disputed, Shiites are believed to make up nearly three-quarters of the island's half-million citizens, although they are clustered in lower-paying jobs and have littl political clout.

The Al Khalifa ruling dynasty adheres to the Sunni sect of Islam. It blames overwhelmingly Shiite Iran for stirring unrest in Bahrain, an accusation Iran denies.