Robin Cook, Ex-UK Foreign Secretary, dies

LONDON - Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has died after collapsing while walking on a mountain in northern Scotland, police said. He was 59.

Cook served as foreign secretary from 1997 to 2001 and maintained a high public profile as a fierce critic of Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to go to war in Iraq.

He resigned as Leader of the House of Commons in 2003 over the government's decision to back the US-led war.

Cook was walking on Ben Stack mountain on Saturday when he collapsed, police said.

"Mr Cook apparently took ill while walking with his wife Gaynor on Ben Stack and was removed by Stornoway coast guard helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness," a police statement said.

He died in hospital on Saturday evening local time, it said.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, standing in for Blair, who is on holiday, said: "Robin was the greatest parliamentarian of his generation. He also made an enormous contribution to British politics in opposition and in Government. He will be sorely missed."

Cook was regarded as one of the outstanding political debaters of his era. He drew widespread praise for an eloquent resignation speech when he quit the government.

Cook, a Scot, took over the Foreign Office in 1997 after a landslide election win by Blair's centre-left Labour party, pledging a new "ethical dimension" to foreign policy.

But his first year in office was marked by personal embarrassment and questions over his judgment.

He abruptly ended his 28-year marriage to first wife Margaret when a newspaper threatened to reveal he was having an affair with his secretary Gaynor Regan, who he later married.

He survived the scandal to play a prominent role in Nato's 1999 campaign to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo. He later listed "defending Kosovo" as one of his greatest achievements.

Although his switch to become leader of the House of Commons was a demotion, Cook took on the task with vigour and sought to modernise centuries-old traditions in parliament.

He also seemed to relish life on the backbenches after quitting the cabinet. He published a highly acclaimed book on his years in government and wrote frequent newspaper columns. He was also fanatical about horse racing.

When asked which book he would take with him if he were banished to a desert island, he chose the National Hunt Form Book, a guide to horse racing in Britain.

The son of a chemistry teacher, he was educated at Edinburgh University, where he studied English literature and began a career in Labour politics. He was first elected to parliament in 1974.

- REUTERS