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Celebrity Deathwatch: Noboru Takeshita, Former Japanese Prime Minister, 76

http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/east/06/18/japan.takeshita.ap/index.html

Reports: Former Japanese prime minister Takeshita dies

June 19, 2000
Web posted at: 7:44 a.m. HKT (2344 GMT)

TOKYO (AP) -- Former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, who was forced from
office by scandal but remained a top power broker in Japanese politics, died
Monday after a long illness, news reports said.

Kyodo News agency and national broadcaster NHK reported Takeshita, 76, had
died of respiratory failure at a Tokyo hospital early Monday. The telephones
were busy at his office and the reports could not be immediately confirmed.

Takeshita, who served as premier from 1987 to 1989, announced his retirement
from politics last month after more than a year in the hospital. He was
originally hospitalized in April 1999, complaining of lower back pain.

Despite his long absence from the spotlight, Takeshita is generally regarded
as one of the most powerful figures in Japanese politics. He was the mentor
of Keizo Obuchi, who was prime minister until suffering a stroke in April.
Obuchi died May 14.

Little information had been released about Takeshita's health. His
retirement speech was recorded by aides, and part of it was played over
national television.

Takeshita was forced from office in 1989 after admitting to accepting
illicit stock and cash donations from Recruit Co., a marketing and
information firm. He was never charged.

He continued to wield considerable behind-the-scenes power as head of the
Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction in Parliament. Takeshita handed
control of the faction to Obuchi in the mid-1990s, but he remained the major
force within it.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who replaced Obuchi, also belongs to Obuchi's
faction.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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