Former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian diplomat and politician who served one term as U.N. chief from 1992 to 1996, has died, the United Nations Security Council announced Tuesday. He was 93. Current council president and Venezuela U.N. Ambassador Rafael Ramirez made the announcement Tuesday morning as the 15 council members stood in a moment of silence.
As the first U.N. secretary-general from Africa, Boutros-Ghali helped negotiate a landmark peace deal with Israel and organize the first relief operation for the famine in Somalia. However, he stepped into the post at a tumultuous time with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Friction with the Clinton administration ultimately resulted in his bid for a second term to be blocked, making him the only U.N. secretary-general to ever serve a single term.
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