Mubarak taken ill during TV speech
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Mubarak recovers to complete his address to parliament.
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CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced to break-off from a televised parliamentary speech when he was taken ill.
The 75-year-old was addressing the parliament in Cairo Wednesday at about 12:45 p.m. (5:45 a.m. ET) when the television signal was briefly interrupted, CNN's Ben Wedeman reported.
A news announcer said Mubarak had fallen ill. Shortly afterwards, Egypt's speaker of the parliament said Mubarak would return shortly.
The president did return after several minutes to complete his speech, lasting a further five minutes.
But Wedeman said a "tremor of alarm" had spread across the country while Mubarak disappeared for about an hour.
"People were standing still, waiting for news," he added. Mubarak's return was met with "relief" and he was given a standing ovation.
The problem was caused by a combination of antibiotics, a cold, and Ramadan fasting, the Egyptian information minister said.
Mubarak appeared to have been speaking normally and was discussing foreign policy, The Associated Press reported.
Mubarak took power in 1981 after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.
