FACTBOX-Facts about Belgian PM Yves Leterme

April 22 (Reuters) - Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme lost the support of one of his coalition partners on Thursday, leaving his government in danger of collapse.

Below are some facts about Leterme, a Flemish Christian Democrat.

* King Albert appointed him prime minister for the first time in March 2008 after months of coalition wrangling that followed a June 2007 election. He replaced interim leader Guy Verhofstadt.

* Leterme, 49, tendered his resignation in July 2008 after failing to end a power tussle between Belgium's regions which reignited speculation that the country could split, but stayed on after the king refused to let him quit.

* He offered his government's resignation again in December 2008 after the Supreme Court said there were strong signs of political meddling in a court case over the rescue of financial group Fortis FOR.BR at the height of the financial crisis. This time the king accepted the resignation.

* Leterme was appointed foreign minister in Herman Van Rompuy's government in July 2009, replacing Karel De Gucht who moved to the European Commission. Parliament approved his return as prime minister last November to replace Van Rompuy, who became president of the European Union.

* Leterme describes himself as having been a child from the "west corner" of Belgium, an area known for its support for Flemish independence. But he straddles the linguistic divide in having a Flemish mother and Walloon father and supporting Standard Liege, a French-speaking football club.

* He has upset French-speakers with apparent gaffes. He told the French newspaper Liberation in August 2006 that Belgium's francophones were either too lazy or not intelligent enough to learn Dutch. He was once asked to sing a few lines of the national anthem, Brabanconne, on Belgium's national day, but launched into a rendition of France's La Marseillaise instead.

* Leterme has degrees in law and politics. He worked his way up the ranks of the CVP (a precursor of the Flemish Christian Democrat party) and was employed at the EU executive, the European Commission, for five years from 1992, specialising in agriculture. He became head of the Christian Democrats' parliamentary group in 2001, and in 2004 became premier of Dutch-speaking Flanders. He is married and has three children.

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(Compiled by Philip Blenkinsop and Antonia van de Velde)