YEREVAN, Jan 8 (NT, AFP) - Former French president Francois Mitterrand died early Monday at the age of 79, nearly eight months after leaving office following a record 14 years in power, his staff announced. He died at 8:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) after a long fight against prostate cancer. France's most remarkable post-war politician after General Charles de Gaulle, Mitterrand demonstrated that a socialist alternative was possible after the more than 30 years of right-wing rule. In the euphoria of victory over incumbent President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterrand abolished the death penalty, cut the working week, decentralized government and freed the media from a Gaullist straitjacket. AFP /AA1234/081015 GMT JAN 96

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