Japanese P.M. Hospitalized

Japan's prime minister Keizo Obuchi was in hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning due to overwork, the government's chief spokesman announced.

The spokesman, Mikio Aoki, told reporters at a late-night news conference that the exact cause of the health problems was not known but said that Obuchi was conscious.

Obuchi suffers from a heart condition for which he has a pacemaker. When he became prime minister in July 1998, questions were raised about the state of his health, but there have been no reported problems since he took office.

Aoki said the government would assess the situation after a report from doctors. He said that if the prime minister's condition was serious, an acting prime minister would be appointed. He said it was not clear how long the medical checks would last.

Earlier, NHK television reported that Obuchi had become severely tired from handling the government's response to the volcano on the island of Hokkaido. He has also been holding weekend talks amid the breakup of the government's three-party coalition in which the smallest member, the Liberal Party, is set to split off.

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