HENRY Kissinger, the US secretary of state who dominated foreign policy under former presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has died aged 100, his consulting firm Kissinger Associates said.
The firm said in a statement Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut and is survived by his wife Nancy, two children, David and Elizabeth and his five grandchildren.
Kissinger was born in southern Germany in 1923 before he fled Nazi Germany to the US in 1938.
In 1969, he was appointed as national security adviser in the US, before serving as the secretary of state under Nixon and Ford, the statement said.
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Kissinger wrote 21 books on national security and was a regular consultant to American presidents of both political parties and foreign leaders after he finished government service in 1977. He turned 100 in May.
A visit to the UK had sparked protests by anti-war demonstrators. He was widely condemned for war crimes.
A huge puppet figure of him was erected outside the Royal Albert Hall by the Get Kissinger Group, which planned to hold a mock trial accusing him of being a war criminal because of his involvement in events in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
In a speech during that visit in 2002, he admitted it was “quite possible” mistakes were made in administrations in which he served.
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He told an audience of British business leaders at the Institute of Directors’ annual convention that the issue was whether courts were the right place to determine what had happened.
Shortly before the event, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell lost a legal bid to have Kissinger arrested under the Geneva Convention.
Former US president George W Bush paid tribute, saying in a statement he and his wife Laura will miss Kissinger’s “wisdom, his charm and his humour”.
“America has lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs with the passing of Henry Kissinger,” Bush said.
“I am grateful for that service and advice, but I am most grateful for his friendship.”
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