Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General Is Dead!

In a tweet, the UN Migration body said: "Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary"

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has died, an official UN organization has confirmed.

"In a tweet, the UN Migration body said: "Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary." It went on: "A life well lived. A life worth celebrating." Speaking moments after the announcement, UN special envoy Peter Thompson told Sky News: "He was one of the great diplomats of our time."" With Sky News.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner died in Switzerland after a brief illness. He was the first black African to take up the role of the world’s top diplomat, serving two terms as the UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006.

“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,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whom Annan had chosen to head the U.N. refugee agency, said in a statement.

When he departed from the United Nations, he left behind a global organization far more aggressively engaged in peacekeeping and fighting poverty, setting the framework for the U.N.'s 21st-century response to mass atrocities and its emphasis on human rights and development.

"Kofi Annan was a guiding force for good," current U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. "It is with profound sadness that I learned of his passing. 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" cbsnews.com reports.

Here is a statement released by the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation:

Rest in peace, a man of peace!