Former president of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain has passed away after a prolonged illness.

Hussain was suffering from cancer and was being treated at a private hospital in Karachi for the past two weeks, Geo News quoted his son Arsalan Mamnoon as saying.

Hussain was the 12th president of Pakistan, who served from 2013 to 2018 during the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He replaced Pakistan Peoples Party's Asif Ali Zardari, and was succeeded by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Arif Alvi as president.

An industrialist from Karachi, Hussain remained an active member of the PML-N for more than five decades.

He also served as the Sindh governor in 1999 for a few months, and as an adviser to then Sindh chief minister Liaquat Jatoi. In 2002, he contested the elections from Karachi’s NA-250 constituency.

Hussain was born in Agra in 1940 and migrated with his parents to Pakistan in 1947. He was a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

He was diagnosed with cancer last year, and breathed his last on July 14, 2021. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

As news of his passing spread, tributes and condolences poured in from the political fraternity.

President Alvi expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of Hussain.

Sindh chief minister's adviser Murtaza Wahab also expressed sadness at the news of the former president's passing, saying "he served his office with grace and dignity".

PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan expressed condolences at Hussain's demise, praying for strength for his family and friends to cope with the loss.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif also took to Twitter to express grief on the death of Hussain, saying "he was an honest man who served Pakistan with sincerity".