Ricardo Izurieta, Chilean general who succeeded Pinochet as military chief, dies at age 71

SANTIAGO, Chile – Ricardo Izurieta, the general who succeeded dictator Augusto Pinochet as head of Chile's military, has died. He was 71.

A statement from the Chilean army said Izurieta died at his home Sunday. No cause of death of announced.

Izurieta led the military from 1998 to 2002 following the 25-year dictatorship of Pinochet, who led the 1973 coup that toppled the elected government of Marxist President Salvador Allende.

The army statement praised Izurieta for uniting the military "and all of Chilean society, without exclusions."

Former Defense minister Edmundo Perez Yoma said Izurieta's most important work was helping establish the human rights commission that led to the military acknowledging that bodies of prisoners had been thrown into the sea during the dictatorship.