Czech President Vaclav Havel was rushed to hospital with heart problems on Monday, forcing him to cancel an official visit to Italy, presidential spokesman Ladislav Spacek said.
Havel, who turns 65 next week, was already on board the plane preparing to depart for Rome when he was taken ill, Spacek said.
The president was taken to the Prague-Stresovice military hospital where he was being treated for an irregular heartbeat.
Dr Ilja Kotik, the president's personal physician, said Havel had previously suffered similar problems, "particularly in situations of stress or in the case of viral infections of the respiratory tract due to his chronic bronchitis."
He declined to say how long Havel would remain in hospital, but hinted it might be a short stay.
Havel has been besieged with health problems for the past five years.
A leading human rights activist who spent five years in prison for his opposition to former Czechoslovakia's communist regime, Havel had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his lung in December 1996.
In 1998, he nearly died after suffering a heart attack only days after undergoing surgery in hospital in Innsbruck. He has also suffered from a string of viral and respiratory infections related bronchitis.
He suffered his latest bout with ill health during a July summer vacation in Portugal. He was treated with antibiotics after catching a chill.
In February this year, Havel had to be rushed home from a visit to Kuwait, and was placed on a respirator on the flight back.
Havel's trip to Italy, scheduled for September 24 to 26, was to focus among other issues on security, following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
He was also to discuss the expansion of the European Union and should have visited the NATO defense college at Rome which celebrates its 50th anniversary at the end of September -- PRAGUE (AFP)
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