Tributes are being paid to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has died of Covid-19 complications aged 84.
The former top military officer died on Monday morning, his family said. He was fully vaccinated.
Powell became the first African-American secretary of state in 2001 under Republican President George W Bush.
He also sparked controversy for helping garner support for the Iraq War.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said in a statement, thanking the staff at the Walter Reed Medical Center “for their caring treatment”.
Powell had previously been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer which may have made him more susceptible to Covid symptoms, according to US media, as well as Parkinson’s disease.
President Joe Biden, calling Powell a “dear friend”, said he had embodied the “highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat”.
