International
Former UN chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan dies aged 80
Former UN chief Kofi Annan has died: foundation
* Annan died peacefully in Swiss hospital surrounded by family* Served as UN Secretary-General from 1997-2006* Awarded Nobel Peace Prize with the world body in 2001* Opposed US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003* Tributes flow from Guterres, UN rights chief, the Elders Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan died on Saturday at the age of 80, his foundation said, after decades of championing efforts to try to end protracted conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.Annan, a Ghanaian national, died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in the early hours, his close associates said.In Geneva, the Kofi Annan Foundation announced his peaceful death after a short undisclosed illness with "immense sadness", saying he was surrounded in his last days by his second wife Nane and children Ama, Kojo and Nina.After rising through the ranks of the United Nations, Annan served two terms as UN Secretary-General in New York from 1997-2006 and retired to live in a Swiss village in the Geneva countryside. 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 organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whom Annan had chosen to head the UN refugee agency, said in a statement.Annan and the United Nations shared the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to reform the world body and give priority to human rights issues.As head of UN peacekeeping operations, Annan was criticised for the world body's failure to halt the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s.As UN boss he was linked to peace efforts to reunite the divided island of Cyprus, submitting a reunification blueprint which was rejected in a referendum by Greek Cypriots in 2004.'Not perfect'