SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF NIGERIAN DIPLOMAT JOSEPH GARBA,

WHO SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF FORTY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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

The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the death of Ambassador Joseph Nanven Garba, the former Nigerian Foreign Minister and President of the United Nations General Assembly.� During the 1980s, Mr. Garba emerged as a leading figure in Nigeria’s diplomatic campaign against apartheid.� Before serving a distinguished term as President of the forty-fourth General Assembly, he wasNigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Chairman of the United Nations Committee against Apartheid for five years until 1989.� The Secretary-General conveys his condolences to the family of Mr. Garba and to the Government and people of Nigeria.

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