The powerful four-star general tried to reassure senators about the course of the war before he suddenly slumped over at the table, his aides rushing to his side as stunned lawmakers looked on.

Petraeus "appears to be doing very well," said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, minutes after the dramatic episode.

Petraeus, 57, who has been treated for prostate cancer, laughed it off as a case of dehydration and skipping breakfast.

Moments earlier, he was grilled by lawmakers over plans to start a US withdrawal from Afghanistan in July 2011.

The general offered only a cautious endorsement of President Barack Obama's promise to start a drawdown of US troops by mid-2011, saying he supported the deadline with a "qualified yes."

The gradual handover to Afghan forces would depend on conditions on the ground but the US military expected to meet the deadline, he said.

Republican Senator John McCain told the general the mission faced a possible "mounting crisis," arguing the timeline for withdrawal was unrealistic given a series of setbacks.

McCain was wrapping up his questioning with praise for Petraeus when the general collapsed.

Petraeus looked disoriented, came to and then stood up from the table, walking out without a word.

About 20 minutes later, after he was examined by a doctor, the general came back smiling, with a cup of water in his hand.

He joked to the committee that it was not McCain's questioning that caused him to take ill.

The US president, heading back from a visit to Pensacola, Florida, called Petraeus from Air Force One to check on his condition and got the impression he is "doing great," the White House said.

The general has been portrayed as a hero in Washington for his role in masterminding a 2007 surge of US forces in the Iraq war, which US officials say turned the tide against insurgents.

As the country's best known military officer, conservative commentators have suggested Petraeus as a potential presidential candidate, though he has dismissed the speculation.

Petraeus, a wiry long-distance runner and fitness fanatic, is known for working long hours at a breakneck pace.

Although the general offered to resume his testimony, Levin insisted the hearing be adjourned until Wednesday.

His job as Central Command chief has Petraeus focused on scaling back the US presence in Iraq while trying to turn around the troubled war in Afghanistan, now in its ninth year.

"We are seeing early progress" in the Afghan war, Petraeus told senators, but added that "none of this is easy or without considerable challenges."

Levin said the effort to bolster Afghan security forces was still lacking and pressed Petraeus over the mid-2011 target date for the start of a pullout.

Petraeus paused for several seconds before saying that "we have to be very careful with timelines."

He said the military's "projection" was that the 2011 deadline could be met but stressed that the US president's policy did not imply "a race for the exits."

Asked by Levin to explain his answer, Petraeus said his remarks amounted to "a qualified yes."

McCain told the general there were troubling signs coming out of Afghanistan, citing a delayed offensive in Kandahar, difficulties in Helmand in the aftermath of a February operation and the resignations of the Afghan interior and intelligence chiefs.

McCain, a former presidential candidate who lost to Obama in 2008, renewed his argument against setting any timeline for withdrawal.

"It now seems increasingly clear that hoping for success on the arbitrary timeline set by the administration is simply unrealistic," he said.

"It's time for the president to state unequivocally that we will stay in Afghanistan until we succeed."

The US president's fellow Democrats support the deadline for beginning a withdrawal, and are anxious to avoid an open-ended commitment of troops.

earlier related report
Canada's Conservatives reach deal in Afghan document row
Ottawa (AFP) June 15, 2010 - Canada's Conservative government finalized a deal Tuesday with two opposition parties on the release of sensitive Afghan war documents, ending a political standoff that had risked triggering snap elections.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's shaky grip on power was strengthened by the agreement with the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois, even though another opposition party, the New Democrats, rejected the deal.

The wedge between the opposition parties, which hold a majority of seats in parliament, now assures there will be no election before lawmakers' summer break, which is scheduled to start next month.

The parties reached a preliminary deal last month, but the details still had to be hammered out.

The top secret files are believed to contain evidence that Canada transferred prisoners to Afghan custody knowing they could be tortured, in violation of Canadian and international law.

A standoff over their release started after the House of Commons passed a motion in December ordering the government to produce the files.

The government refused, citing national security concerns, and instead produced tens of thousands of heavily redacted pages.

Under the terms of a deal agreed to by all parties last month, a committee of MPs was to review all documents to determine their relevance to the study of the transfer of Afghan detainees by Commons committee on the Afghan conflict.

Any documents found to be relevant would be referred to a panel of "expert arbiters" tasked with deciding how to make the information in the documents available to all MPs and to the public without compromising national security.

The latest proposal, said the New Democrats, excludes legal documents and cabinet records from review.

"New Democrats will not sign the government's latest proposal on access to Afghan detainee documents because it means Canadians will never learn the truth about torture in Afghanistan," said New Democrat party leader Jack Layton.

The other parties, the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois, "were willing to accept compromises that we believe would prevent the truth from coming out," he said.

House Speaker Peter Milliken had ordered the Conservative government and opposition parties to agree to terms for releasing the documents, or he would find the government in contempt of parliament, which might have forced elections.

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said the proposal "recognizes the right of members of parliament to know and to have information and to use that information to hold the government to account."

"We also believe that the mechanism put in place through the agreement that has been negotiated will allow us to have access to the information we need in order to shed light on those allegations of torture," Bloc Quebecois MP Pierre Paquette said.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said on behalf of the government: "I'm pleased it's worked out."

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