Compton

CASTRIES, St. Lucia (AP)

Ailing Prime Minister John Compton returned home yesterday after seeking medical attention on the nearby island of Martinique, but the government said his health has continued to deteriorate.

Acting Prime Minister Stephen-son King said the 82-year-old leader was transferred to a private hospital near Castries, the Carib-bean island's capital, where he remained on life support. Some of his organs were failing, according to the statement from King.

Compton, who has not resumed leadership duties since suffering a series of strokes in April, flew Saturday to the French island of Martinique, where doctorsat La Menard Hospital determined he had suffered another stroke.

The three-time leader of this former British colony ended a nine-year retirement in 2005 to deliver an upset victory for his party in elections last year. Many in the nation of 168,000 regard him as a national hero for negotiating independence from Britain in 1979.