Conny Mus, a former member of the CBN News team, died unexpectedly of a heart attack Friday. He was 59.

Mus served as a correspondent in Jerusalem for CBN News from 1985 to 2000. He covered everything from the Palestinian uprisings to Saddam Hussein's attacks against Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.

"Conny was the ultimate foreign correspondent for better and for worse. He epitomized the foreign correspondents in Israel," Daniel Seaman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, told The Jerusalem Post. "We were sometimes on opposite sides of the debate, but it never affected our friendship."

"He loved Israel and he was a fighter for freedom of the press," Seaman added. "Sometimes he was antagonistic, but he was always friendly and cared deeply for Israel."

He also played a critical role in the founding of the CBN News Jerusalem Bureau and shared his experiences with many young journalists.

Mus also reported for European television networks and was a columnist for several magazines. He was one of the Netherlands' most well known broadcast journalists.

Mus was the current chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel, a position he had held off-and-on since 1990.

Funeral services with be held Thursday in Amsterdam.