WASHINGTON Khalid Hasan, a veteran Pakistani journalist and acclaimed author of several books who also worked as APP Washington correspondent, died of cancer at a Northern Virginia hospital Thursday night. He was 74.

Khalid Hasan breathed his last at 1015 p.m. (Washington Time). He had been undergoing several medical tests and procedures since Jan.19. His condition sharply deteriorated over the past three days.

A number of Pakistani-Americans, several Pakistani journalists working in the United States received the news of his demise with a heavy heart.

Pakistan's ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani expressed his deep sorrow over the

demise of Khalid Hasan and said his death was a massive loss for Pakistan.

A number of US-based Pakistani journalists who had long association with Khalid Hasan including Akmal Aleemi, former VOA Producer, Iftikhar Ali, APP Correspondent in New York, Khwaja Salahuddin, VOA Producer and several other journalists expressed their condolences over the loss of their colleague.

Lately, Khalid Hasan worked for Daily Times and The Friday Times, Lahore, out of Washington. A brilliant writer, he contributed two columns per week to the publications in addition to daily spot coverage. He was at his best in political satire. His writings appeared in almost all leading Pakistani English newspapers.

After graduating from Murray College, Sialkot, he taught at Lawrence College, Murree, joined the Income Tax Service, worked for The Pakistan Times, served as the press secretary to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and carried out diplomatic assignments in London, Paris and Ottawa.

He will be best remembered for his English translations of the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto and lyrics of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. His death will be mourned by his innumerable friends and admirers, among them senior journalists and writers of Pakistan and India.

His correspondence with Qurat-Ul-Ain Hyder appeared in book form.

Khalid Hasan was born in Srinagar. His father, Dr. Noor Hussain, who hailed from Jammu worked for the Jammu & Kashmir ministry of Health. His older brothers Brig.Bashir Ahmad and Colonel Saeed Ahmad, both deceased, served the Pakistan Army with distinction. His younger brother, Masud Hasan, also a columnist, runs a business in Lahore.

His sister Surayya was married to K.H. Khurshid who served Quaid-i-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah as his private secretary, later became president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and finally died in a traffic accident.

In the late 1960s, Khalid Hasan travelled to Washington for the Congressional Fellowship sponsored by the American Political Science Association and married Juanita. The couple had a son, Jeffrey and a daughter, Jehan, both married and working in the United States. The family was with Hasan as he lay in hospital.

He will be buried in Vermont, the native state of his wife.