High praise for titan of peace Kofi

TRIBUTES flowed in yesterday for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan who died at the age of 80.

The former UN Secretary General will be remembered for decades of championing efforts to try to end protracted conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The Ghanian died a peaceful death surrounded by his wife and children in hospital in Bern, Switzerland following a short illness.

After serving two terms as UN Secretary General, Annan retired to the Geneva countryside and set up a foundation devoted to transforming African agriculture.

He was criticised as head of UN peacekeeping operations for the organisation’s failure to halt the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s.

But his family can be proud of his legacy as a humanitarian who never tired of working to unite those in conflict.

George W Bush called him a “gentleman and tireless leader” while Barack Obama paid tribute to “a diplomat who embodied the mission of the United Nations like few others”.

Former Irish president Mary Robinson is part of an international group known as the Elders, of which Mr Annan was the chair.

They said yesterday: “The world has lost an inspiring figure – but one whose achievements will never be forgotten and whose commitment to peace and justice will endure to inspire future generations.”