SG/SM/9474
      14 September 2004

Secretary-General Saddened at Death of Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa

NEW YORK, 13 September (UN Headquarters) -- The following statement was issued on 11 September by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is saddened to learn of the death of His Beatitude Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, in a helicopter crash this morning in Greece.

He conveys his sincere condolences to his family, as well as to the families of the other victims of the crash, and to the Greek Orthodox community.

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