Perez de Cuellar, two-term UN chief from Peru, dies aged 100

LIMA, Peru－Former UN secretary-general Javier Perez de Cuellar, a Peruvian diplomat who played a crucial role in ending the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, died on Wednesday at his home in Lima aged 100.

Perez de Cuellar was a two-time head of the United Nations, which he led from 1982 to 1991 as some of the iciest years of the Cold War gave way to the end of the Soviet Union and greater efforts at international cooperation.

Perez de Cuellar was the fifth head of the world body and its only leader from Latin America to date.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed Perez de Cuellar's crucial role in securing the release of US hostages held in Lebanon as well as peace accords in Cambodia and El Salvador during his time in office.

"He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world," Guterres said.

"He played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes－including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and, in his very last days in office, a historic peace agreement in El Salvador," said Guterres.

In January, Guterres sent his congratulations to Perez de Cuellar for his 100th birthday.

Perez de Cuellar once said his proudest achievements were his role in security independence for Namibia and the peace accord that ended the Iran-Iraq conflict. However, his diplomatic efforts were unable to halt the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990.

After leaving the world body, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for the Peruvian presidency in 1995, losing to Alberto Fujimori.

He served as prime minister in a national unity government for roughly eight months after Fujimori's administration collapsed amid a corruption scandal in late 2000.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra expressed in a statement on Wednesday his profound regret for Perez de Cuellar's death, saying the diplomat had "dedicated his entire life to the task of glorifying our country".

Trilingual, Perez de Cuellar read French, English and Spanish literature.

Perez de Cuellar was born in Lima on Jan 19, 1920. His father was a "modest businessman" and an accomplished amateur pianist, according to the former secretary-general.

In Peru, the family belonged to the educated rather than the landowning class. "He went to the right schools," a countryman at the UN once said of Perez de Cuellar.

He received a law degree from Lima's Catholic University in 1943 and joined the Peruvian diplomatic service a year later. He would go on to postings in France, Britain, Bolivia and Brazil before returning to Lima in 1961, where he served in a number of high-level ministry posts.

He was ambassador to Switzerland and then became Peru's first ambassador to the Soviet Union while concurrently accredited to Poland. Other assignments included the post of secretary-general of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry and chief delegate to the United Nations.