A former chief of Pakistan's powerful military intelligence, Hamid Gul, has died at the age of 79.
General Gul led the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1987 to 1989.
One of the most outspoken military leaders of his generation in Pakistan, Gen Gul was known for his hardline Islamist views against the US and India.
The retired general died of a brain haemorrhage in the town of Murree, north-east of Islamabad.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has expressed his condolences.
Conspiracy theorist or patriot?
While critics described him as a delusional conspiracy theorist who had little regard for democratic politics, hardline supporters considered him a patriotic Pakistani and a true Muslim, says the BBC Pakistan correspondent Shahzeb Gillani.
General Gul supported the armed insurgency in Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmir.
For more than two decades after he retired in 1992, Gen Gul frequently appeared on global news media often blaming Washington and Delhi for violence and instability in Pakistan
He was often seen at hardline Islamist rallies alongside militant leaders
considered close to the Pakistani army.
In a BBC interview in 2010, Gen Gul said: "America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future."
BBC News
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