Former Yugoslav leader Raif Dizdarević dies in Sarajevo

Raif Dizdarević, the 10th president of the Presidency of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), has died in Sarajevo in his 100th year of life, Report's Balkan bureau informs.

Dizdarević was born in Fojnica on December 9, 1926. He joined the National Liberation Struggle in 1943 and became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1945.

He began his career in state security, working in the People's Protection Department and State Security Administration, before joining the diplomatic service of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1951.

During his long diplomatic career, Dizdarević served at Yugoslav embassies in Bulgaria, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. In 1972, he was appointed deputy federal secretary for foreign affairs.

He later served as president of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1978 to 1982 and president of the SFRY Assembly from 1982 to 1984.

Dizdarević was federal secretary for foreign affairs from 1984 to 1987 before becoming a member of the SFRY Presidency. He served as president of the Presidency from May 15, 1988, to May 15, 1989.

After retiring from active politics, Dizdarević lived in Sarajevo and authored several books, including the memoirs "From Tito's Death to Yugoslavia's Death" and "Times to Remember."

He was the first Bosniak Muslim to serve as president of the Yugoslav Presidency.