BOSTON (AFP) - Prominent liberal US Senator Edward Kennedy was rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts after apparently suffering a seizure, US news media reported Saturday.

The senator was taken from the Kennedy family compound in the town of Kyannis to a nearby hospital, then airlifted to the larger Massachusetts General Hospital in the city of Boston, US media reported.

Kennedy's condition remained unclear but the Boston Globe and other media said he had suffered a seizure at home and then another as he was being transported by helicopter.

Earlier reports on CNN and other television networks had described "stroke-like" symptoms.

Kennedy, 76, is the last surviving brother of slain president John Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22, 1963. His brother Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968 as he was campaigning for president.

Kennedy, who exerts heavy influence within his party and in Congress, is a fierce critic of President George W. Bush and a supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

"I have been in contact with the family. Obviously they are in our thoughts and prayers," Obama said on the campaign trail.

"Ted Kennedy is a giant in American political history," Obama said. "He has done more for the health care of others than just about anybody in history and so we are going to be rooting for him and I insist on being optimistic about how it's going to turn out."

First elected to the senate in 1962, he is the second longest-serving senator after Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Republican putative presidential candidate John McCain said "I was very sorry to hear that Senator Kennedy has taken ill, and like millions of Americans, Cindy and I anxiously await word of his condition. Senator Kennedy's role in the US Senate cannot be overstated. He is a legendary lawmaker, and I have the highest respect for him.

"When we have worked together, he has been a skillful, fair and generous partner. I consider it a great privilege to call him my friend. Cindy and I are praying for our friend, his wife, Vicki, and the Kennedy family," McCain added.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Senator Ted Kennedy and his family today. We all wish him well and a quick recovery," Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

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