Former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali dies at 93

Cairo, Feb 16: Former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali died in a hospital here on Tuesday (February 16), Egypt's state news agency said. He was 93 and was admitted to the hospital with a broken pelvis.

He was born on November 14, 1922, and was a former Egyptian politician and diplomat.

Boutros-Ghali was the sixth UN secretary-general who had taken over the responsibility from Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in 1992, at a time when the world body's influence was growing, particularly after the end of the Cold War and its decisive role in the Gulf War.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali was the first Arab UN secy-general and served one term

However, Boutros-Ghali, the first Arab to serve in the post, saw his tenure dogged by controversies and could serve a single term. He faced flak over the UN's failure to stop the 1994 Rawandan genocide and annoyed the US by his opposition to the Nato's aggressive campaign against Bosnia. The second instance had a particular role in his ouster from the world body.

Boutros-Ghali was succeeded by Kofi Annan in 1996.

The 15-member Security Council of the UN observed a minute's silence over the former diplomat's death at the beginning of a session on Yemen's humanitarian crisis.

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