Software guru McAfee hospitalised after being denied asylum in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Software company founder John McAfee was hospitalised on Thursday after being denied political asylum in Guatemala and his lawyers said they were making a last-ditch effort to keep him from being flown back to Belize for questioning about the killing of a fellow American expatriate.

Mr McAfee told The Associated Press (AP) that he suffered chest pains overnight but didn't believe he had a heart attack. A government doctor who examined him agreed, saying that Mr McAfee's heart rhythm and blood pressure were normal and that he appeared to be suffering from high stress.

Mr McAfee was moved from an immigration center to a police-run hospital on Thursday afternoon after Guatemalan authorities said his request for asylum had been denied. They did not explain why. Shortly after the decision was announced, Mr McAfee issued a plea on his blog for the public to petition Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina to let him stay.

"Please email the President of Guatemala and beg him to allow the court system to proceed, to determine my status in Guatemala, and please support the political asylum that I am asking for", the post read.