LONDON, Aug 6: Former British foreign secretary Robin Cook, who quit Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government in protest over the Iraq war, died on Saturday after collapsing on a Scottish mountain.

His death was announced by police force after Mr Cook, 59, was airlifted by helicopter from Ben Stack in the Highlands following his collapse on the rugged mountain whilst out walking.

“I can confirm he is dead,” a spokesman for Raigmore Hospital in Inverness told AFP, adding that Mr Cook was declared dead about five minutes after he arrived in the emergency ward.

Police said Mr Cook, a keen walker, was nearing the top of Ben Stack, a conical mountain that stands 721 metres high, when he became ill around 2:23pm (1323 GMT). An air-sea rescue helicopter from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency was called in to take him to hospital in Inverness, where a spokesman said he was declared dead.—AFP