Former UN leader Boutros Boutros-Ghali dies, aged 93

Former UN chief and Egyptian statesman Boutros Boutros-Ghali has died aged 93. The death of the veteran diplomat, who served one five-year term as secretary-general from 1992 to 1996, was announced by the president of the UN Security Council. A minute’s silence was observed by the 15-member group. As the UN’s first secretary-general from Africa, he organised the relief effort during the famine in Somalia. Such was the divisive nature of his tenure, however, he was the first holder of the post to be denied a second term.

The Cold War is finished. Nobody is interested in the poor countries in Africa or anywhere in the world. They can easily forget Somalia in 24 hours.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

He faced criticism over the UN’s failure to act during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and for not doing enough to end Angola’s long-running civil war in the 1990s. But he stood ready to challenge critics and confront protesters when his security guards allowed. “I am used to fundamentalists in Egypt arguing with me,” he once explained. However, his straight-talking style could prove controversial. He caused shock in Sarajevo when he said he was not trying to belittle the horrors in Bosnia but that there were other countries where the “total dead was greater than here”.

Boutros-Ghali