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by IANS |
Lima, March 5 (IANS) Former UN chief and Peruvian Prime Minister Javier Perez de Cuellar has died aged 100, his family has said.
Perez de Cuellar's son told local radio station RPP that he died at his home in Peru, the BBC said in a report on Thursday.
During his two terms as UN Secretary General, he brokered peace agreements in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
A key achievement was negotiating a ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 after eight years of conflict.
Aside from the Iran-Iraq war, by the end of his second term in 1991, Perez de Cuellar had helped to end hostilities in Western Sahara, and civil wars in El Salvador, Cambodia and Nicaragua.
In a statement on Wednesday night, incumbent Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "profoundly saddened" by the news.
"He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the UN and our world," the BBC quoted Guterres as saying.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Peruvian President Mart�n Vizcarra called Perez de Cuellar "a full-hearted democrat who dedicated his entire life to work to enlarge our country".
The former UN chief had also made an unsuccessful bid for Peru's presidency in 1995, losing to Alberto Fujimori.
His funeral is slated to take place on Friday.
