American conservative televangelist Pat Robertson dies at 93

The famous American conservative televangelist Pat Robertson, often with extreme positions, has died at 93, announced Thursday the Christian television channel he founded in a statement.

Pat Robertson, "television presenter, educator, humanitarian and former presidential candidate, died at his Virginia Beach home early Thursday morning," The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reported.

Founder of CBN

A very popular television preacher, Pat Robertson founded CBN in 1960 where he hosted a very conservative daily show, "The 700 Club," which he said was watched by an average of one million Americans.

Former Republican presidential candidate in 1988, he also founded the Christian Coalition, an organization known for its fierce opposition to abortion and its fight for prayer in schools, which he had made in the 90s an essential political pressure group. The Christian Coalition numbered nearly 4 million in 1994, according to the New York Times, but had lost half of its members in the 2000s and much of its influence.

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Born in 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, Pat Robertson frequently stirred controversy with extremist remarks. He said in 2002, a year after the September 11 attacks, that Muslims were worse than the Nazis and called in 2005 for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom the televangelist accused of having financed Osama bin Laden.