Iraq's Ahmad Chalabi, leading voice behind 2003 US-led invasion, dies of heart attack

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 5, 2010 file photo, Ahmad Chalabi, the head of the Accountability and Justice Committee speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad. Iraqi state TV says Chalabi, a prominent politician who strongly advocated the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack at the age of 70.(AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) (The Associated Press)

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FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 27, 2003 file photo, Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi, speaks to the media at in Tehran, Iran. Iraqi state TV says Chalabi, a prominent politician who strongly advocated the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Friday, March 4, 2005 file photo, United Iraqi Alliance deputy and former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi twirls his prayer beads whilst making a phone call at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. Iraqi state TV says Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent politician who strongly advocated the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD – Iraqi state TV says Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent politician who strongly advocated the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack.

The report on Tuesday said he died in Baghdad but did not provide further details on the circumstances of his death. He was in his early 70s.

Chalabi, a secular Shiite politician who lived in exile for decades, was a leading proponent of the invasion to topple Saddam and provided false information indicating that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Many in the Bush administration had viewed him as a favorite to lead Iraq after the 2003 intervention.