Spy chief collapses, foul play ruled out

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

July 4: Britain’s top intelligence adviser is seriously ill in hospital, the police and the government have confirmed on Friday. However, both the government and the police have rejected all speculation about foul play.

Fifty-seven-year-old Alex Allan, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and head of intelligence assessment since December 2007, was responsible for briefing the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on a weekly basis coordinated inter-departmental intelligence assessments. The committee is part of the Cabinet Office.

"We can confirm that Alex Allan was taken ill on Monday and transferred to a London hospital. We cannot discuss his condition as it is a private matter," a Cabinet Office spokeswoman said.

Mr Allan was in a coma after collapsing at his home on Monday and had been shifted to hospital, the Cabinet Office said and added that it was unclear why he had collapsed.

However, the cause was not believed to be "foul play", the Cabinet Office sources were quoted as saying by this newspaper. Even, Scotland Yard said the incident was being treated as "non-suspicious".

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "We were made aware of a man in his late 50s who was taken to a London hospital after being taken ill at his home address."