Britain's top intelligence chief in coma after collapse (Roundup)

Jul 4, 2008, 9:46 GMT

London - Britain's most senior spymaster charged with overseeing the work of intelligence services is seriously ill in hospital after collapsing at his home, the government said Friday.

Alex Allan, 57, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), also often referred to as 'Britain's top spy,' collapsed at his home earlier this week and has not regained consciousness.

Allan, a colourful and eccentric character, is a top civil servant appointed as head of the JIC last November. Shortly afterwards his wife, Australian artist Katie Clemson, died of cancer.

Government sources have said there is no sign of foul play, and reports Friday said toxicology tests had proved negative.

There was immediate speculation that Allan, found unconscious at his home in London Monday evening, could have been poisoned.

'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. He remains in a serious condition. This is being treated as non-suspicious,' a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: '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.'

Allan reported feeling unwell towards the end of last week, reports quoted colleagues as saying.

A government source said Allan was 'so high-profile that he would be a very unlikely target for attack.' As a civil servant he would not have had 'enemies,' a source told the Daily Telegraph Friday. 'There is no reason for him to be targeted by anyone.'

The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) is responsible for briefing ministers and officials with intelligence assessments on issues such as security, defence and foreign affairs.

After being educated at Harrow School and taking a top mathematics degree at Cambridge University, Allan worked mainly in the Treasury and Justice departments.

He was principal private secretary to previous prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair.

The JIC was widely blamed for supplying the government of Tony Blair with 'sexed up' documentation alleging that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.

The controversy climaxed in the suicide of David Kelly, an official at the centre of allegations that the government had deliberately hyped the information on Saddam Hussein's arsenal of weapons.

Allan was seen as an untypical civil servant, with a love for cycling and windsurfing and a keen interest in 1960s American rock group The Grateful Dead.

During a rail strike in the 1980s, he windsurfed along the Thames wearing a bowler hat, suit and tie and carrying an umbrella and briefcase.

He came unstuck when a gust of wind blew him from his board near Big Ben.