Falklands reporter Brian Hanrahan dies

• Brian Hanrahan

He famously told the nation that he watched Harrier jets take off during the conflict, "counted them all out, and I counted them all back".

The often-quoted line was a way of getting around reporting restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Defence which prevented details of operations being reported.

Among the colleagues who paid tribute was BBC director general Mark Thompson, who said: "Brian was a journalist of unimpeachable integrity and outstanding judgment but his personal kindness and humanity also came through. That is why audiences and everyone who knew him here will miss him very much."

He was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and his condition deteriorated when he was admitted to hospital with an infection 10 days ago.

Hanrahan, who leaves behind a wife and daughter, spent 40 years with the BBC reporting from all over the world.

He covered stories such as the assassination of Indira Gandhi in India, the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union, the Tiananmen Square massacre and the fall of the Berlin Wall.