TRIBUTES FOR US STATESMAN
GENERAL Colin Powell, the influential former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who played a pivotal policy role during the administration of then-president George W Bush, has died at 84 from complications related to Covid-19.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” his family said in a statement, adding he was fully vaccinated.
The retired general was also battling Parkinson’s and blood cancer. His wife Alma also had Covid-19 but had responded to treatment, according to reports.
It is not clear if he had received a booster shot, when he was diagnosed with Covid-19 or how long he had been in hospital.
US President Joe Biden led an outpouring of tributes from home and abroad, describing the officerturned-statesman as a breaker of racial barriers who believed in “the promise of America” and always put country before self.