Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86

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Frederick Forsyth has died at the age of 86.
A statement released by his literary agent, Curtis Brown, said that he died at home after a brief illness surrounded by his family.
The British author, who was one of the youngest ever RAF pilots and a former journalist, published more than 25 books.
His novels, which include The Day of the Jackal, have sold over 75 million copies.
Mr Forsyth's agent, Jonathan Lloyd, said: 'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers.
'Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life - In My Own Words, to be released later this year on BBC1 – and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived.'
Mr Lloyd described how the author had used 'his gift for languages in German, French and Russian' to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra.
'Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a Secret Service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel,' Mr Forsyth's agent continued.
The novel, The Day of The Jackal, was published in 1972 and propelled Forsyth to the status of a global bestselling author. It has since been adapted into a film and more recently, a TV series starring Eddie Redmayne.
Mr Lloyd said: 'He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world - though his books will of course live on forever.'
The acclaimed writer was only 17-years-old when he got into the Royal Air Force and later, when he was a journalist, worked in Paris and East Berlin at the height of the Cold War.
He has previously told The Telegraph that he had 'good luck to be able to turn lots of that [experience] into books' but that he had 'no lust to be 90'.
He wrote in the newspaper six years ago, when he was aged 80: 'So, unless I go completely crazy, which I don't intend to do, the rest of my days should be comfortable.
'As for the future, I may survive the next decade but I've no lust to be 90. I don't know what I'd do, beyond what I'm doing nowadays, which is getting up in the morning, reading the Telegraph and the Mail and having all my prejudices reconfirmed, brewing up a cup of char and then going down the pub for lunch.'
His publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, wrote: 'Transworld's long relationship with Frederick Forsyth began in 1972 with the Corgi paperback publication of The Day of the Jackal.
'With its never-before-read ice-cool writing, iconic jacket and a protagonist for the ages, The Day of the Jackal was an instant bestseller across the world and immediately propelled Freddie into a globally successful career which would span the next fifty years across books, films and most recently television.'
The popular novel remains the first and most enduring of his 16 thrillers and follows a hired assassin who targets the French president Charles de Gaulle.
The TV adaptation marked the third to reach the screen, following one fronted by Edward Fox in 1973, and another that Forsyth disowns, with Bruce Willis in 1997.
Mr Scott-Kerr continued: 'Having long held The Day of the Jackal as the blueprint of the modern thriller, I was honoured to become his editor for Avenger in 2002 and have remained so ever since.
'Working with Freddie has been one of the great pleasures of my professional life, perhaps never more so when he pulled back the curtain on his eventful life in his autobiography, The Outsider, one of the most entertaining and fascinating nonfiction books you could hope to read.'
He added that Forsyth's journalistic background 'brought a rigour and a metronomic efficiency to his working practice and his nose for and understanding of a great story kept his novels both thrillingly contemporary and fresh'.
'It was a joy and an education to watch him at work,' he continued. 'Still read by millions across the world, Freddie's thrillers define the genre and are still the benchmark to which contemporary writers aspire.
'He leaves behind a peerless legacy which will continue to excite and entertain for years to come.'
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