THE former Greek prime minister and veteran socialist leader, Mr Andreas Papandreou (77), died yesterday, drawing a curtain on a tumultuous political life marked by prison, corruption scandals and political comebacks.
Mr Papandreou, dogged by serious health problems over the past 12 months, died from heart failure at 2.30 a.m. at home in the Athens suburb of Ekali. His widow, Ms Dimitra Liani Papandreou (42), a former airline hostess, was with him when he died.
News of his death plunged the nation into mourning, with hundreds of Greeks gathering outside the Orthodox Cathedral in Athens to pay tribute as his body arrived, accompanied by his widow and leading members of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) he founded in 1974.
Scores of women carrying red roses and olive branches flocked around the cathedral, as tearful party faithful attempted to touch Mr Papandreou's flag draped coffin as it arrived. His body will lie in state until Wednesday.
Mr Papandreou's sudden death came as a surprise because his health appeared to have stabilised since March, when he left hospital following a four month stay prompted by pneumonia and kidney problems. The extended confinement sparked a severe political crisis and forced Mr Papandreou to make way in January for Mr Costas Simitis, a Pasok rival.
Speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting, Mr Simitis said Mr Papandreou had "left us his living legacy" which Pasok would work to consolidate, adding that modern Greece now bore the "imprint of his personality, his creativity".
Nevertheless, Mr Simitis was a fierce critic of his predecessor's nationalism, notably his handling of Greece's long running disputes with Turkey over Aegean Sea territory and Cyprus. He now has a fight on his hands to prevent a split at this week's party congress, likely to pit him against a leading Papandreou supporter, Mr Akis Tsohatsopoulos.
The UN Secretary Generid, Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, led international tributes, saying the late Greek leader had worked "ceaselessly for the happiness of the Greek people."
President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey said Mr Papandreou "had been a distinguished personality on the Greek political scene," while the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, described Mr Papandreou as "a charismatic leader who contributed much to the development of modern Greece".
President Glafcos Clerides of Cyprus described Mr Papandreou as a staunch defender of Cyprus's freedom.
. The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said death of Mr Papandreou had brought an end to an extraordinary career of service to his native Greece, to the International Socialist movement and to Europe.
He had built his party into a powerful political force and had established a personal reputation as a strong advocate of Greece's role as a modern democratic state capable of playing a key role in the difficult political landscape of the Balkans and the Middle East.