Former president of el-Salvador Francisco Flores dies at 56

Former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores died Saturday in a private hospital in the capital after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, his party confirmed, the ABC News reported.

Flores, 56, had been in a coma since undergoing emergency surgery.

Flores, who led El Salvador from 1999 to 2004, was under house arrest on charges of embezzlement and illegal enrichment. He was accused of diverting more than $15 million, which had been donated by Taiwan to help the victims of earthquakes in 2001. A court says $10 million of that went to the party backing him and the remainder to him.

The conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, better known as ARENA, which carried Flores to the presidency, mourned his death and said it would support his family. Current Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez also offered his condolences through his official Twitter account.

Doctors last week said Flores had suffered irreversible neurological damage and that his chances of survival were minimal.

Source: MENA