Former WTO, Goldman chief Peter Sutherland dies at 71

DUBLIN, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Former World Trade Organisation director general and Goldman Sachs international chairman Peter Sutherland died on Sunday at the age of 71, Ireland’s foreign minister said.

Sutherland, who also served as Ireland’s European Union commissioner and as attorney general during the 1980s, had been ill for some time, Irish national broadcaster RTE said, citing a statement from his family.

“Very sad at passing of Peter Sutherland. I knew him as a compassionate, driven, global thinker, always willing to challenge views,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Twitter. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)