Former top US diplomat Bill Richardson has died at the age of 75, according to media reports.
The Democratic politician, former energy secretary and governor of the state of New Mexico died peacefully in his home in Chatham, Massachusetts, according to the reports citing the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded.
Richardson served as a member of the US Congress for 14 years before becoming the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York in 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as the energy secretary under then US President Bill Clinton, and he later governed the state of New Mexico in the south-western USA from 2003 to 2010.
After his political career, which spanned several decades, Richardson was often involved in negotiations for the release of US hostages abroad, most recently in the case of a US soldier held in Russia earlier this year.
Last year, he also worked on securing the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia last year on drugs charges.
"He lived his entire life in the service of others," wrote Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center, according to CNN and The Washington Post. "Including both his time in government and his subsequent career [he helped] to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad."
