JAN 10

Roseau - The prime minister of the Caribbean island of Dominica, Pierre Charles, has died, aged 49. He had led his country for the past three years, but had been ill for some time and had undergone a series of operations over the past year.

The cause of death is not yet known, but reports say Charles was rushed to hospital after complaining of chest pains during a Cabinet meeting. Local media are calling his death a tragic loss to the nation.

Crowds of supporters gathered outside the Princess Margaret hospital in the former British colony, some weeping openly. Radio stations dropped their normal programming and have been playing sombre music following the announcement, early on Tuesday evening.

Pierre Charles was the leader of the Dominican Labour Party, and came to power in October 2000 after the then Prime Minister Roosevelt Douglas himself died while in office. Born in 1954, he became a schoolteacher and only later went into politics.

He was elected to the island's parliament in 1985, after speaking out against the United States invasion of neighbouring Grenada in 1983. ore recently he has called for the US to lift its embargo against Cuba, and criticised US military intervention in Afghanistan.

Last year, he imposed an austerity budget to try and boost the Dominican economy, one of the Caribbean's poorest. Public spending was cut by 15%, and there were strikes.

There had been calls from members of his own party for him to step down, because of his health problems. A successor has yet to be named.