Veteran journalist Robert Fisk dies at 74

London: Robert Fisk, veteran Middle East correspondent of The Independent and author, has died at a hospital in Dublin where he had been admitted since Friday due to an illness.

Fisk became unwell on Friday and was admitted to St Vincent's hospital where he died a short time later, the Irish Times reported on Sunday.

Fisk was one of the most celebrated journalists of his era and renowned for his fearless and honest chronicles of the events across the globe, more of them from the Middle East. His writings were commended for their deeply researched understanding of the complexities of the events across the globe and the Middle East in particular. Most recently, his coverage and analysis of the Gulf wars and the US attacks on Iraq had won worldwide attention acclaim, predominantly for his insights on the region. Madhyamam used to carry his reports and analysis during such periods.

After working for Sunday Express and the Times, he joined The Independent in 1989 and wrote for it until his death. Fisk joined The Independent in 1989, after falling out with The Times, owned media baron Rupert Murdoch. He had had initially joined The Times, as Northern Ireland correspondent in 1972.

The Independent paid tribute to a journalist who was "renowned for his courage in questioning official narratives" and publishing "frequently brilliant prose", Al-Jazeera reports.

"Fearless, uncompromising, determined and utterly committed to uncovering the truth and reality at all costs, Robert Fisk was the greatest journalist of his generation," said Christian Boughton, editor of the Independent until last week and now managing director, "the fire he lit at The Independent will burn on."

The Lebanese civil war, Russian invasion of Afghanistan, Iranian revolution, Iran-Iraq War, the Algerian civil war and 2011 Arab revolutions are some of the major events he covered as a foreign correspondent, mostly based in Beirut.

He was fierce critic of the United States and frequently condemned the US involvement in the West Asia and other areas.

Fisk authored several books and works like The Point of No Return: The Strike Which Broke the British in Ulster, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War and The Great War for Civilisation – The Conquest of the Middle East are included in widely received works.