Former French president Jacques Chirac dies, aged 86

Jacques Chirac admired former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, despite their differences over Europe (Photo: AFP)

Chirac fiercely opposed the invasion of Iraq under the then leader Saddam Hussein (Photo: AFP)

A popular figure in the Arab world, Chirac shared warm relations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (Photo: AFP)

South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela counted Chirac among his close friends (Photo: AFP)

Chirac called Pope John Paul II 'a universal pastor and a man of peace' (Photo: AFP)

Late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was invited to Paris in 2003 by Chirac for a summit, despite a EU travel ban (Photo: AFP)

France under Chirac re-established ties with Libya's Muammar Gaddafi in 2004 (Photo: AFP)

Relations between France and Germany improved with Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at the helm (Photo: AFP)

Chirac disapproved of US president George W. Bush's plans to invade Iraq (Photo: AFP)

Chirac apologized to Queen Elizabeth II over the desecration of graves of British soldiers who died in WWI at a cemetery in northern France in 2003 (Photo: AFP)

Former French president Jacques Chirac, who led France from 1995 to 2007, has died at the age of 86.

His son-in-law Frederic Salat-Baroux told The Associated Press that Chirac died "peacefully, among his loved ones."

Born in 1932, the son of a bank manager, Jacques Rene Chirac was educated at the École Nationale d'Administration, an elite academy for budding civil servants.

He also served in the French army reserve and was injured during operations in Algeria.

The iconic French statesman, who briefly dabbled with communism and pacifism, rose through the ranks to emerge as the leader of the conservative Right, and mayor of Paris, for nearly two decades.

Journalists and photographers gathering in front of Chirac's home in the Rue de Tournon after his death was announced on Thursday. Photo: CGTN/Stefan de Vries

Chirac, who took residence at the Élysée Palace for 12 years on being elected twice as head of state in 1995 and 2002, became France's second longest-serving post-war president after his predecessor Francois Mitterrand.

In 1995, he won the presidency after two failed attempts, ending 14 years of Socialist rule. But his government quickly fell out of favor and parliamentary elections in 1997 forced him to share power with Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin.

During his re-election bid in 2002, far-Right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen took a surprise second place in first-round voting. The moderate Right and the Left united behind Chirac in the second round, and he crushed Le Pen with 82 percent of the vote.

"By thwarting extremism, the French have just confirmed, reaffirmed with force, their attachment to a democratic tradition, liberty and engagement in Europe," said Chirac.

Later that year, an extreme Right militant shot at Chirac – and missed – during a Bastille Day parade in 2002.

Chirac championed the United Nations and "multipolarism" – a distribution of power in which more than two nation-states have nearly equal amounts of global influence – as a counterweight to US global dominance.

He opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and defended agricultural subsidies over protests by the European Union.

Once nicknamed "Superliar", Chirac became the first former president to be convicted of corruption in 2011. He was charged with embezzlement and misuse of public funds during his tenure as mayor of Paris.

In recent years, Chirac was very rarely seen in public. He suffered a stroke in 2005 and was declared unfit to speak in public by his wife Bernadette in 2014.

He was visibly weak and walked with a cane at a November 2014 awards ceremony for his foundation, which supports peace projects.

Chirac is survived by his wife and younger daughter, Claude. His daughter, Laurence, died in 2016 after a long illness that Chirac once said was "the drama of my life."

Source(s): AP