Former German president Horst Köhler  dies at 81

Former German President Horst Köhler died at the age of 81 after a short but severe illness, Deutsche Welle reports.

Köhler was first elected as German president in 2004 and held the position until 2010, when he unexpectedly resigned.

Before assuming the president’s post, Köhler served as the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2017, he was appointed as the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy for Western Sahara, but stepped down in 2019 due to health issues.