31 Dec 2009

Death of former president

7:13 pm on 31 December 2009

Former President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia has died in hospital in Jakarta after a long illness.

Wahid or Gus Dur, as he was widely known, had been in hospital for the past week. The ABC reports he had been having dialysis treatment.

He was Indonesia's first elected president after the fall of the military dictator Suharto.

Gus Dur took office in 1999, but was impeached and forced from office two years later.