Former Nepal Prime Minister Thapa dies at age 87

KATMANDU, Nepal — An official says Surya Bahadur Thapa, who served as Nepal’s prime minister five times, has died in a hospital in India where he was being treated for stomach cancer. He was 87.

Thakur Sharma, a spokesman for Thapa’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party, says Thapa was hospitalized at Medanta Hospital on the outskirts of New Delhi last week and died on Wednesday night.

He served as Nepal’s prime minister three times before 1990, when the kings ruled the Himalayan state.

After a multiparty democracy was established, he formed the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and held the post of prime minister twice. He stepped down in 2005.

Sharma said his body will be flown to the Nepalese capital from New Delhi later Thursday for cremation.