Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after brief illness; Trump, Netanyahu pay tribute

World
By Breaking News Nigeria
US Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican lawmaker from South Carolina and a prominent voice on national security and foreign policy, has died after what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness.”

In a statement released on Sunday, July 12, Graham’s office said the senator died on July 11. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement said.

The senator had recently visited Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
US President Donald Trump led tributes, calling Graham “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”

“Senator Lindsey Graham… was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed,” Trump wrote, adding that details and funeral arrangements would follow.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also paid tribute, describing Graham as “a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine.”

In a post on social media, Netanyahu said Graham believed “the security of Israel and America are inseparable” and had devoted his life to strengthening the US-Israel alliance. “Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” he said.

Graham had long been one of the most outspoken US lawmakers on Iran, advocating a hardline approach toward Tehran and consistently backing strong military and economic pressure against the country.

The Iranian mission in Ghana responded with a sharply worded social media post, saying Graham had “spent decades begging for Iran to burn” and ending the message with the words, “Rot in perdition.”

Graham, who represented South Carolina in the US Senate for more than two decades, was one of the Republican Party’s most influential voices on foreign affairs and a close ally of Trump in recent years.

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(Edited by : priyanka deshpande)

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