ROME (AFP) ― Giulio Andreotti, a Machiavellian seven-time Italian prime minister who dominated the political scene for decades, died on Monday at the age of 94.

Andreotti, a top figure in the once-dominant Christian Democratic party, died at his home in Rome. He had suffered ill health in recent years and was hospitalized last year with heart trouble.

A private funeral will be held on Tuesday in Andreotti’s local church for the staunchly pro-Catholic politician, who had close ties with the Vatican and was accused of links to the mafia.

Andreotti was “a leading protagonist for over 60 years of public life,” said Prime Minister Enrico Letta, himself a former Christian Democrat.

Flags will be flown at half-mast at sporting events across Italy in honor of Andreotti, who helped bring the Olympics to Rome in 1960.

Italy’s parliament also held a moment of silence.

A controversial figure associated with a period of political violence which rocked Italy in the 1970s, critics accused Andreotti of Machiavellian behavior and nicknamed him “The Untouchable.”

Anti-mafia prosecutor Antonio Ingroia said that while “Andreotti, with his many shadows, is dead, Andreottism is certainly not,” in a reference to ties in Italy between power and organized crime.

Andreotti was blamed for refusing to negotiate for his political rival Aldo Moro’s freedom, when the latter was kidnapped ― and later murdered ― by the Red Brigades in 1978.

Philip Willan, author of “Puppet Masters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy,” said the former premier was “a very good illustration of the strange bedfellows created by the Cold War. Someone like him could be a great friend of the pope but also in contact with mafiosi, allegedly.”

He was sentenced to 24 years in prison for ordering the murder of a journalist in 1979, but an appeals court cleared him in 2003 and he served no time in prison.

The journalist, Mino Pecorelli, had alleged Andreotti was in league with the Mafia.

Suspicions lingered, however, particularly after testimony provided by mafia turncoats who alleged that he had met with Cosa Nostra dons.

News of his death sparked irreverent responses on Twitter.

“Giulio Andreotti, the man who got away with it,” read one tweet, while another said he had been a “terrifying symbol of all that’s wrong in Italy.”

Political commentators also spoke Monday of the vast collection of documents and private letters Andreotti left behind him in a vault in Rome ― some of which have never been seen.