Seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, who was said to have had Mafia links, has died He was accused ordering the killing of a journalist.

The 94-year-old Former PM Andreotti was hospitalised last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection.

Giulio Andreotti helped draft Italy’s constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. He remained a senator-for-life.

The Christian Democrat was accused of exchanging a “kiss of honour” with the Italian Cosa Nostra  longtime number one boss and for being involved in the murder of an Italian journalist.

He denied any wrongdoing and after long and much-publicised court battles was cleared on both charges.

Andreotti held several cabinet positions after the WWII before eventually becoming prime minister in 1972. His final term lasted from 1989 to 1992.

He was renown for being friends with popes and cardinals and his figure was immediately recognisable to generations of Italians.

Rumours surrounding Giulio Andreotti came to a head in the wake of Italy’s anti-corruption drive in the early 1990s when he was accused of involvement in the death of journalist Mino Pecorelli, who was killed in a mob-style hit in 1979.