Copenhagen, 16 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari has died at the age of 86, Finland's presidential office said on Monday.

Ahtisaari passed away in Helsinki at 6:40 am (0340 GMT), the presidential office said in a statement.

Ahtisaari, who was born in 1937, served as Finland's president from 1994 to 2000.

Before his tenure, he held a number of positions in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs as well as the UN.

Following his presidency, Ahtisaari founded a peace brokerage organization called the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation. In 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his peacekeeping efforts.

"It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of President Martti Ahtisaari. Martti Ahtisaari believed in humankind, civilisation and goodness, and he lived a great, significant life. He was President in times of change, who piloted Finland into a global EU era," Finnish President Sauli Niinistö was quoted as saying in the statement.

Photo: MIA archive