SKOPJE -- Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov survived a car bomb attack that killed his driver in Skopje on Tuesday, but diplomatic reports said he was critically injured.


The reports, which indicated Gligorov had suffered serious head injuries including a fractured skull, conflicted with statements by Macedonian radio, quoting doctors at Skopje's main hospital. These also spoke of head injuries but said the 78-year-old president's life was not in danger. The radio said was Gligorov was conscious and talked to doctors treating him. It that Gligorov had undergone an operation and that France had been asked to send medical assistance.


There was no medical bulletin from the government several hours after the explosion in central Skopje as the president drove to his office in the national parliament.


The bomb, triggered by remote control, exploded in a parked car outside the Bristol Hotel about 250 meters from the parliament and seriously wounded three bystanders.


Gligorov's driver, Aleksander Spirovski, died instantly from massive head injuries from the blast.


There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but police arrested two men who tried to flee the scene by car.


Gligorov's astute political leadership has been crucial to Macedonia's peaceful transition to independence since leaving Yugoslavia in 1991.


It was alone among the four secessionist republics to escape war but has been plagued by disputes with neighboring Greece, Serbia and Albania.