Lubomir Strougal, Czechoslovak communist leader, dies at 98

PRAGUE (AP) — Lubomir Strougal, a Czechoslovak communist-era leader who served as prime minister for a record length of more than 18 years, has died. He was 98. His death was confirmed to media Monday by former Communist Party lawmaker Jiri Dolejs. No details were given. Strougal was appointed prime minister in 1970 when the country was ruled by a hard-line communist regime established following the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. After Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced a reform program know as ″perestroika,″ or restructuring, Strougal was considered a pragmatic reformer but the hard-liners prevailed and Strougal resigned in 1988, a year before the Velvet Revolution led by Vaclav Havel ended more than 41 years of communist rule.