Barbados prime minister says he is ill, needs medical tests in US

Barbados premier heading to US for medical tests

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — The prime minister of Barbados says he is ill and will undergo medical tests in New York.

David Thompson says he has been suffering from stomach pains since early March.

His doctor told a news conference Friday that Thompson will be evaluated by a specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Richard Ishmael says the tests could last several weeks.

Ishmael says recent tests were inconclusive.

Thompson’s Democratic Labor Party won the 2008 elections on the eastern Caribbean island of 285,000 people, which has thriving tourism and offshore financial services industries.

The 48-year old lawyer was born in Britain and has served in several Cabinet posts.