Kenyan Nobel Laureate Maathai Dies

Wangari Maathai

Kenya's Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai has died in Nairobi while undergoing cancer treatment. She was 71.

Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for promoting conservation, women's rights, and transparent government -- becoming the first African woman to get the award.

She founded the Kenya-based Green Belt Movement in 1997, which has planted millions of trees in Africa.

Maathai was elected as a member of parliament in 2002 and served as a minister in the Kenyan government for some time.

compiled from agency reports