United Nations Aug 24 (IANS) The UN Security Council on Thursday observed a minute of silence in honour of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined the representatives of the 15 members of the council for the solemn moment Xinhua news agency reported.

The minute of silence was held at the beginning of a high-level meeting of the Security Council chaired by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt whose country holds the council presidency for the month of August.

Annan a Ghanaian diplomat and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate died on Saturday in Switzerland at the age of 80. He served as UN secretary-general for 10 years till the end of 2006.

--IANS pgh/