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UN-DIPLOMACY-SWEDEN-INVESTIGATION
UN extends investigation of leader’s mysterious 1961 death
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Dec 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United Nations
General Assembly on Friday approved a resolution extending the investigation
into the mysterious 1961 death of secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold.
The Swedish diplomat had been traveling in southern Africa for a mission
when his plane crashed.
The text, initiated by Sweden and co-sponsored by more than 100 countries,
was adopted by consensus without a vote.
Sweden recommended the reappointment of Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Chande
Othman, who has led the investigation for several years.
In his last report, published in early October, Othman accused the United
States and Britain of withholding information regarding Hammarskjold’s death.
Only the second secretary-general in the history of the UN, Hammarskjold
was killed along with 15 other people on September 18, 1961 when their plane
crashed near the city of Ndola in what was then known as Northern Rhodesia,
now Zambia.
At the time, he was seeking to unite Congo and stop the mineral-rich
Katanga province from seceding.
Two investigations concluded the crash was caused by pilot error. But
since 2014, new probes have focused on a possible plot, a theory enforced by
Othman’s most recent report.
“South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States must be almost
certain to hold important undisclosed information,” he wrote.
The resolution urged member states, “in particular those referred to in
the report, to release any relevant records in their possession.”
In his report, Othman mentioned the likelihood that UN member states
intercepted communications related to the crash, as well as the existence of
Katangan air assets that could have attacked the secretary-general’s plane.
He also cited the presence of foreign forces, including pilots and
intelligence agents, on the ground at the time of the crash.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0841 hrs