/europe
(CNN) -- Belgium's King Albert II held urgent talks with political leaders Saturday after Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered his government's resignation amid a row over the break-up of the stricken Fortis bank.
Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme has offered his government's resignation, according to reports.
The collapse of Leterme's nine-month government -- a broad coalition bringing together parties from both sides of Belgium's French-speaking and Flemish divide -- has pitched the country into the latest in a series of crises which some fear could break-up the country.
Belgium has been mired in political instability since 2007 elections that left no clear winner and highlighted growing political strife between the Flemish north and French-speaking south.
According to the Belgian constitution, the king must decide whether to accept the prime minister's request to step down.
In July he refused to accept Leterme's resignation after the prime minister failed to break the deadlock between French-speaking and Flemish factions.
On Friday, Justice Minister Jo Vandeurzen quit after Belgium's highest court suggested the government had tried to influence a ruling on the Fortis case.
Judges last week effectively blocked the government's bailout and sale of its stake in Fortis to French bank BNP Paribas.
The court found in favor of 2,200 shareholders who wanted more say in the bank's future.
Fortis was among the banks worst-hit by the credit crunch, leaving it short of cash and needing help from the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
They agreed to provide $15.5B to Fortis in a move to reassure savers and clients about the financial health of the cross-border bank. Each government took a 49% stake in the bank in their respective countries, with Belgium then lining up BNP to buy its stake.
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