Sharjah 24 – AFP: Jihan al-Sadat, the second wife of assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, has died at the age of 87, the presidency said on Friday.

"The presidency... weeps with immense sadness for Jihan al-Sadat, the wife of president Anwar Sadat, a hero of war and peace," an official statement said.

She was "a model for Egyptian women", the statement added. 

She had been in hospital for several weeks after returning from treatment in the United States, her son Mohamed said. 

She was born in Cairo to an English mother and Egyptian father in 1933 and married Sadat in 1949. The former president was assassinated in 1981.