Tony Blair To Undergo Surgery

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would undergo a routine operation Friday to correct an irregular heartbeat.

Blair announced the plans for the medical procedure Thursday night, just hours after appearing onstage for the closing ceremony of his Labour Party's annual convention in the seaside town of Brighton.

The procedure, Blair said, would be carried out under local anesthetic, and would affect neither his job nor his plans to seek a third straight term as Britain's prime minister in next year's elections.

He said, however, he would not seek a fourth term.

"It's a sort of fluttering. It doesn't stop you working, and indeed I've been working the last couple of months since it happened," he told British Broadcasting Corp. television. "I'm going to go in and have this routine operation tomorrow."

Blair will be sedated during the two and a half hour procedure, called a catheter ablation for the heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia.

Blair's office at No. 10 Downing St. said Blair would spend Friday night in the hospital and rest over the weekend before returning to "normal duties" on Monday. He will go ahead with a scheduled visit to Africa on Tuesday, the office said.

The condition first came to public attention a year ago when Blair, 51, was treated at a London hospital for a rapid, irregular heartbeat. An electric jolt was used to return his heart rhythm to normal.

On that occasion, he returned to work a day later, defying doctors' orders to take 24 hours rest.

A month later, in November 2003, his aides were quick to play down another health scare when Blair called doctors to his official residence.

The prime minister's office said he was suffering from a stomach ache that passed quickly with no treatment given by the two doctors who were examining him.

Aware the health scare would prompt questions about his future, Blair sought to reassure the public.

"The decision, of course, is one for the country, but if elected I would serve a full term, but I would not then stand for a fourth term," he said.