GENEVA, May 13: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, uncle of the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community and the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees— the Aga Khan — died at the age of 70 after a lenghty illness, an official at one of his Geneva-based foundations said on Tuesday.

The prince died on Monday in a hospital in Boston Hospital, the official at the Bellerive Foundation said.

Born in Paris in January 1933, Prince Sadruddin, was the younger son of Mohamma Shah Aga Khan III.

After studying at the Harvard University, the prince began in 1958 a career with the United Nations that spanned nearly 40 years, serving as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 1965 and 1977.

He also served in 1990-1991 as the then UN secretary general Javier Perez de Cuellar’s personal representative for humanitarian assistance during the first Gulf War.

Besides being an avid collector of Islamic art, the prince was also a founding publisher of The Paris Review literary journal, and wrote extensively on nuclear disarmament, humanitarian and environmental issues.

Prince Sadruddin served on the boards of several environmental groups, and as a vice president of the World Wildlife Fund International.—AFP