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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