Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kofi Annan Dies At 80

Politico reports:



Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has died aged 80 after a short illness, it was announced Saturday. The Ghanaian led the U.N. from 1997 to 2006 and was chair of the Elders, a group of former heads of state and human rights advocates set up by Nelson Mandela. As U.N. head, Annan was a staunch opponent of the Iraq War. He, along with the U.N. as a whole, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

He was the first person of sub-Saharan African descent to take up the position at the top of global diplomacy. He served two terms as the seventh U.N. chief. The Ghanaian died following a short illness according to a statement by The Elders. He was born in 1938 and first entered the U.N. system in 1962 as an officer for the World Health Organization before working his way up to the headquarters in New York.