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Martti Ahtisaari
CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation/Twitter
- Former Finland president and UN commissioner to Namibia, Martti Ahtisaari, died on Monday.
- He has been described as an exemplary leader who advocated for peace for his role in negotiating for the independence of Namibia.
- Ahtisaari was the Namibian commissioner between 1977 and 1981.
Tributes are pouring in for former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who has been described as "one of the best diplomats" and an exemplary leader who advocated for peace globally.
The Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation said he died on Monday, aged 86.
He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".
Ahtisaari, also the former United Nations commissioner for Namibia, was lauded for his role in peacekeeping talks, including his contribution to negotiating the UN Resolution 435, which ultimately led to Namibia's independence from the apartheid government between 1989 and 1990.
Reuters reported that the former United Nations diplomat had been battling Alzheimer’s disease.
Namibian businessman Jürgen Kögl, who worked closely with Ahtisaari, told News24 the former commissioner was "one of the best diplomats I have ever met".
Kögl reflected on Ahtisaari's negotiation of the implementation of Resolution 435.
He said:
He didn't know how SA would react to the implementation [of the resolution]. He was well prepared, principled and focused on executing sensitively because this was the first time the United Nations assumed control of the country. There was no template textbook to fall back to. The peaceful process of making Namibia an independent nation was implemented under his chairmanship in March 1990.
South African constitutional negotiator Roelf Meyer told News24 that while he did not work closely with Ahtisaari, he described him as a respected leader who will be remembered for his contributions to peacekeeping missions.
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"He was an international figure in the late 1980s and 1990s and had admirers all over the world, of which I was one. He was a huge figure for his enormous role in peacemaking around the world. He set a good example for those who followed him," he said.
