Jakarta  - Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas died on Thursday at the age of 76, officials and media reports said.

Alatas, who served as Indonesia's foreign minister from 1988 and 1999, passed away at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital at about 7:30 am (0030 GMT) after he was hospitalised on November 24, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

However, Faizasyah declined to go into details about the former top diplomat's illness. He added that preparations are underway to fly Alatas' body to Jakarta from Singapore.

Besides serving as foreign minister, Alatas also occupied a number of diplomatic posts overseas, including serving as Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations, and also chaired numerous international seminars.

In 2003, Alatas was appointed an adviser to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (dpa)