"It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully on Saturday 18th August after a short illness," the foundation said in a statement, AFP reported.

Annan, of Ghanaian nationality, died in a hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in the early hours of Saturday.

In 2001, Anan won the Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian work and for having revitalized the UN.