Thomas Klestil, 71; president of Austria

VIENNA -- President Thomas Klestil of Austria, who helped restore the presidency's image after a Nazi-era controversy dogged his predecessor, died yesterday on the eve of his departure from office. He was 71.

Mr. Klestil had been suffering multiple organ failure since a heart attack Monday. He was due to step down today after two six-year terms and hand over the largely ceremonial presidency to Social Democrat Heinz Fischer.

Mr. Klestil won the respect, if not the affection, of Austrians for repairing much of the damage to the country's international image caused by revelations about the role of Kurt Waldheim, Austria's former president and a former UN secretary-general, in the German army under Hitler's Third Reich.

But the career diplomat also angered many traditionalists in the Roman Catholic country when he began a relationship with a young aide, Margot Loeffler, prompting his wife of 37 years to walk out on him in 1994.

He married Loeffler in 1998, shortly after being re-elected to a second term.

Mr. Klestil, a conservative like Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, was a critic of Schuessel's decision to forge a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party of Joerg Haider in 2000 -- a decision that resulted in eight months of international diplomatic sanctions against Austria.

Mr. Klestil, who succeeded Waldheim in 1992, was known for the famously stern and stony face he maintained in February 2000 when swearing in the first Austrian government to include the Freedom Party.

Before his presidency, he was Austrian ambassador to the United Nations and ambassador to the United States.