Former Azerbaijan president dies
BBC
Friday, 12 December, 2003, 20:26 GMT
Aliyev collapsed on television earlier this year
Azerbaijan's former President Heydar Aliyev has died in a US hospital. Aliyev died aged 80 at a clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was being treated for heart and kidney problems. He stepped down as president of Azerbaijan in October, and was succeeded by his son Ilham Aliyev, following elections. Heydar Aliyev was a former Soviet Communist leader who reinvented himself in the 1990s as a post-independence political strongman. Aliyev had been at the Cleveland Clinic since 6 August, where he was being treated for congestive heart failure and kidney problems. A hospital spokesman said Aliyev died at 1000 (1500 GMT) on Friday. He had collapsed earlier this year during a speech that was broadcast live on television.
Obituary: Heydar Aliyev
It was Aliyev's ill health that prompted him to stand down from the presidency, having been elected to the post in 1993, following the country's independence. His record on human rights and media freedom was often criticised in the West, but he was also credited with bringing stability to the oil-rich country, and helping to attract foreign investment. A spokesman for the Azerbaijan embassy in Washington said the former president's body would be flown to Azerbaijan in the next couple of days.
BBC
Friday, 12 December, 2003, 20:26 GMT
Aliyev collapsed on television earlier this year
Azerbaijan's former President Heydar Aliyev has died in a US hospital. Aliyev died aged 80 at a clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was being treated for heart and kidney problems. He stepped down as president of Azerbaijan in October, and was succeeded by his son Ilham Aliyev, following elections. Heydar Aliyev was a former Soviet Communist leader who reinvented himself in the 1990s as a post-independence political strongman. Aliyev had been at the Cleveland Clinic since 6 August, where he was being treated for congestive heart failure and kidney problems. A hospital spokesman said Aliyev died at 1000 (1500 GMT) on Friday. He had collapsed earlier this year during a speech that was broadcast live on television.
Obituary: Heydar Aliyev
It was Aliyev's ill health that prompted him to stand down from the presidency, having been elected to the post in 1993, following the country's independence. His record on human rights and media freedom was often criticised in the West, but he was also credited with bringing stability to the oil-rich country, and helping to attract foreign investment. A spokesman for the Azerbaijan embassy in Washington said the former president's body would be flown to Azerbaijan in the next couple of days.
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