THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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LONDON - Sir Alan Walters, a top economic adviser to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has died.

He was 82. His wife, Margaret Patricia Walters, said her husband died Saturday after suffering from Parkinson's disease for seven years.

An outspoken aide, Walters played a key role in the 1989 resignation of British Chancellor Nigel Lawson - an event that eventually helped lead to Thatcher's political demise. Lawson accused Walters of interfering in Treasury matters and resigned when Thatcher refused to remove Walters from his advisory post.

Walters left the government right after Lawson's departure and Thatcher - politically hurt by the fight - was forced from office a year later.

Walters went on to pursue a lengthy career in the private sector and in academic fields. He later joined the U.S. insurance firm AIG Trading Group as a vice-chairman.

Walters received a knighthood in 1983.