Jacques Chirac: Former French president taken to Paris hospital after falling ill

Family say he is suffering from a lung infection

Former French president Jacques Chirac, 83, was staying at the palace of Mohamed VI of Agadir in Morocco when he fell ill (Getty)

Jacques Chirac has been rushed to hospital in Paris after falling ill.

The former French president is suffering from a lung infection, his family have said. Mr Chirac was staying at the palace of Mohamed VI of Agadir in Morocco when he fell ill.

Two private jets belonging to the Moroccan royal family returned the 83-year-old and his family to Paris, where he is being treated in the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital.

He was admitted to hospital in December for an undisclosed illness.

Mr Chirac was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of embezzling public funds to illegally finance his party in 2011.

He was the first French head of state to face prosecution since the Second World War.

The court found Mr Chirac guilty in two related cases involving fake jobs created at the party he led during his 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor.

Despite repeatedly denying any wrongdoing, he was convicted of embezzling public funds, abuse of trust and illegal conflict of interest.

In 2002, he survived an assassination attempt by a man described as an emotionally disturbed neo-Nazi.