David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, has died in hospital in Italy where he was admitted in December.
The 65-year-old Italian had been seriously ill for more than two weeks due to a dysfunction of his immune system.
“David Sassoli passed away at 1.15 am on 11 January at the CRO in Aviano, Italy, where he was hospitalized,” his spokesman Roberto Cuillo tweeted on Tuesday. “The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours.”
The former television newsreader had been in hospital since December 26 following “a serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system”, Cuillo had said on Monday, announcing the cancellation of Sassoli’s official activities.
Sassoli was previously hospitalized with pneumonia for several weeks in September last year.
The European Parliament sits for a five-year term between elections, but the president of the body serves for half that time.
Sassoli had already indicated that he would not seek re-election.
Source:aljazeera.com
