Slovakia's first president Michal Kovac dies at 86

BRATISLAVA

Slovakia's first President Michal Kovac died late Wednesday, Slovak news agency TASR reported. He was 86.

Kovac, who had been in the intensive care unit of a hospital here, died of heart failure, the agency said.

He had several health problems brought on by Parkinson's disease.

Kovac was the first president of Slovak Republic after it became an independent state in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. He held office until March 1998.