Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner dies

Mr Kirchner served as president from 2003 to 2007, and was being tipped to stand for election again in 2011.

His wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, succeeded him as president in 2007, after he had overseen Argentina's recovery from a severe economic crisis.

Mr Kirchner, who had a heart operation in September, died in El Calafate in southern Argentina.

The couple had faced some criticism within Argentina for appearing to get around presidential term limits by stepping aside for each other, and suffered a setback last year when their Peronist party lost its absolute majority in both houses of Argentina's Congress.

A lawyer by training, Mr Kirchner served as mayor of Rio Gallegos, his hometown in Argentina's Patagonian south, before becoming governor of the wider region - the oil and gas-rich province of Santa Cruz.

He was elected president after Argentina had seen a series of presidents come and go following a major financial crisis in 2001.

Mr Kirchner died with his wife by his side after being admitted to hospital in El Calafate in the early hours of Wednesday morning, reports said.