ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mahboub Maalim, on Saturday expressed condolences on the death of the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.
Annan passed away on Saturday at the age of 80.
The IGAD Executive Secretary has expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family of Annan and to the rest of the world, said a statement from the East African bloc.
"It is with immense shock that I learn the demise of my dear brother, Kofi Annan," the Executive Secretary said.
Born in 1938 in Ghana, Kofi Annan served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.
"The IGAD Secretariat and the entire region will forever be indebted to the former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate for his contribution to peace and prosperity of the Horn of Africa and the African continent as a whole," said Maalim.
On this day that the entire world is mourning the demise of Kofi Annan, the legacy he left behind will be nurtured by all, and the world will remember him as a man of strength and a great spirit, he noted.
