Robert Fisk, veteran UK journalist, dies aged 74

Veteran foreign correspondent Robert Fisk has died of a suspected stroke at the age of 74.

The Irish Times reported that he was admitted to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin after falling ill at his home on Friday, and died shortly afterwards.

Fisk won numerous awards for his coverage of the Middle East, where he reported from 1970s.

But he also drew controversy for his sharp criticism of the US and Israel, and of Western foreign policy.

Covering wars in the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa for UK newspapers over five decades, the New York Times described him as "probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain" in 2005.

Born in Maidstone, Kent in 1946, he later took Irish citizenship and had a home in Dalkey outside the capital Dublin.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has expressed his "great sadness" about Fisk's death on Sunday.

"With his passing the world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators," he said in a statement.