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President Jacques Chirac, surrounded by his ministers, May 9, 2007 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. BENOIT TESSIER / POOL / AFP

The former French head of state died on Thursday morning at the age of 86, said his son-in-law Frédéric Salat-Baroux Agence France-Presse. "In the midst of his people. Peacefully, "said Mr. Salat-Baroux, husband of the couple's daughter, Claude Chirac.

Prime Minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing between 1974 and 1976, and François Mitterrand between 1986 and 1988, Jacques Chirac had acceded to the presidency in 1995. Weakened by a cardio-vascular arrest during his second term, he had left the power in 2007 after 12 years at the Elysée.

His first seven-year term will remain notably marked by the failed dissolution of the National Assembly in 1997 and the third French cohabitation, with Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Jacques Chirac was reelected in 2002 by 82,21% of the votes cast in the second round, against front-runner Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The most important political act of Jacques Chirac's second term will remain his opposition to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 at the UN. The French head of state then strongly opposed the Bush administration, which had made the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein.