Tributes flow for former UN chief, a champion of peace

FORMER UN secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan has died aged 80 after decades of championing efforts to try to end protracted conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The Ghanaian national died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in the early hours on Saturday, his close associates said.

Mr Annan (pictured) served two terms as UN secretarygeneral in New York from 1997-2006 and retired to live in a Swiss village.

His 10-year-old foundation promotes good governance and the transformation of African agriculture.

“In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to lead the organisation into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who Mr Annan had chosen to head the UN refugee agency, said in a statement.

Mr Annan and the UN shared the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to give priority to human rights issues.

Former US presidents praised Mr Annan.

George W. Bush called him “a gentle man and a tireless leader of the United Nations”, while Barack Obama described him as “a diplomat and humanitarian who embodied the mission of the United Nations like few others”.