WASHINGTON, Dec 3: The co-author of “Three Cups of Tea”, the best-selling but disputed tale of an American mountaineer who built schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has committed suicide, officials said on Monday.

David Oliver Relin, 49, died on Nov 15 as a result of “blunt force head injuries”, a medical examiner in Multnomah County, Oregon, said.

He declined to give details, but confirmed that suicide was the stated cause of death on the death certificate issued by his office.

Relin, a journalist who specialised in humanitarian issues, co-wrote “Three Cups of Tea” with Greg Mortenson, whose chance encounter with villagers after a bid to climb K2 led him to building dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It sold more than four million copies and became required reading at the Pentagon as a guide for wooing hearts and minds.—AFP