A Vietnamese former colonel and revolutionary war hero who became disillusioned with the communist regime and defected, becoming one of its most vocal and influential critics, died in France at age 90. Bui Tin passed away of kidney failure in hospital in a Paris suburb early Saturday, his friend and a relative confirmed, after several weeks of declining health.
"The hospital told me that Tin passed away after falling into a coma," close acquaintance Tuong An told AFP on Sunday. A relative in Hanoi also confirmed his death. Tin, a former army journalist, had lived in exile in France since 1990 when he defected during a trip for a meeting organised by l'Humanite communist newspaper in Paris. It was an unlikely twist of fate for a man who spent much of his life fighting for Vietnam's independence - first from French colonial rulers and later from US-backed anti-communist fighters in the south.
He was just a teenager when, full of fervour, he joined the army aligned with Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary movement that would eventually expel the French in the epic battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Several other milestones would follow during his storied military career.
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