Rome: Former Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani died in Rome on Thursday at the age of 97, German news agency (dpa) quoted the Adnkronos and Ansa news agencies.

Forlani’s son Alessandro had announced his father’s death.

Forlani, of the Christian Democracy (DC) Party, was born in 1925 in the Adriatic port town of Pesaro. He studied law and rose through the ranks of the DC.

He was party secretary for a time and held various ministerial posts, including minister of defence and foreign affairs minister. Forlani was Italy’s prime minister from October 1980 to May 1981.-Bernama