SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF PRINCE SADRUDDIN AGA KHAN, FORMER REFUGEE HIGH COMMISSIONER, ‘LIFELONG FRIEND’ OF UN

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF PRINCE SADRUDDIN AGA KHAN,

FORMER REFUGEE HIGH COMMISSIONER, ‘LIFELONG FRIEND’ OF UN

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, philanthropist and lifelong friend of the United Nations.  For more than three decades, Prince Sadruddin was engaged in the work of the United Nations for human rights, humanitarian, environmental and cultural causes.  He led the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at a particularly challenging time, during the war that led to the birth of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.  Prince Sadruddin served the United Nations in many other capacities, including as Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Assistance during the 1990-1991 Iraq-Kuwait crisis.  Through his own Foundation, he worked tirelessly for the protection and improvement of the environment, for cross-cultural understanding and for disarmament.  The Secretary-General extends his deepest condolences to Prince Sadruddin’s wife, Princess Catherine Aleya Aga Khan, and to the rest of his family.  He joins the Prince’s many friends around the world in giving thanks for the life of this remarkable and deeply generous human being.

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