Boutros Boutros-Ghali former UN Sec-Gen, 93, is dead

 Former United Nations chief, Boutros-Ghali  died at Al Salam Hospital in Cairo on Tuesday, aged 93

Served one term as U.N. secretary-general from 1992 to 1996.

'He took on the daunting task of reorganizing the U.N. bureaucracy by slashing posts and demoting officials at a pace that earned him the nickname "the pharaoh."'

 
 Credit: Pascal George/POOL/ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Boutros Boutros-Ghali U.N. Secretary-General 1992 - 1996. He accompanied Sadat on the historic 1977 visit to Jerusalem
 Boutros Boutros-Ghali , Egyptian born former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, died on Tuesday. He was 93. he served as U.N. chief from 1992 to 1996. He died at Al Salam Hospital in Cairo on Tuesday, an official at the hospital said. Boutros-Ghali, who had a reputation for being proud and prickly, took on the daunting task of reorganizing the U.N. bureaucracy by slashing posts and demoting officials at a pace that earned him the nickname "the pharaoh."


 Credit:Michael Schmelling/ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Boutros-Ghali came from a wealthy family and his grandfather was Egypt's prime minister until his assassination in 1910. Before the United Nations, he had worked in the administrations of Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. He was able to claim to be both Arab and African. He also was a Coptic Christian from a mainly Muslim country and married an Egyptian Jew, who converted to his religion. He played a prominent role in the subsequent Camp David accords on the Middle East. He was the architect of Egypt's return to the center of affairs in the Organization of African Unity, the Nonaligned Movement and the Islamic Conference Organization.

Often criticized for the failure of the UN to act during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and for not pushing hard enough for U.N. intervention to end Angola's civil war, which at the time was one of the longest running conflicts in the world. He famously told Somali warlords and clan leaders to stop accusing the United Nations and him of colonialism, adding that Somalis should be worried that former colonial powers would ignore their plight if they continued to fight.

"The Cold War is finished," he said.
"Nobody is interested in the poor countries in Africa or anywhere in the world. They can easily forget Somalia in 24 hours."

Courtesy: Reuters/Huffpo