Former French PM Lionel Jospin dies at 88

Former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin died on Monday at the age of 88, RTL radio reported.

Jospin served as prime minister from 1997 to 2002, with unsuccessful bids for the presidency in the 1995 and 2002 elections. A key figure in France's left-wing Socialist Party, he was first secretary of the party from 1981 to 1988 and again from 1995 to 1997.

He underwent a major surgical operation in January this year and later returned home to recuperate, local media reported.