BY A. G. NOORANI
The body seemed to have a hole in the forehead: ‘He was not burnt as were the other… casualties, but had a round hole in his forehead. On 9 photos taken of the body, however, this hole has been removed. I have always asked myself why this was done. Similarly, the autopsy report has been removed from the case papers. Again, I ask why?’ PHOTO/UN
Susan Williams: Who Killed Hammarskjold – The UN, The Cold War And White Supremacy In Africa, Hurst & Co., London: pages 306.
stupendous work of research comes as close to resolving the mystery of Dag Hammarskjold’s murder as any work possibly can, half a century after the crime. To this day he remains a model Secretary-General of the United Nations whom none of his successors could quite emulate, let alone rival. Susan Williams, an academic at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, has written widely and with deep empathy on Africa. The book makes a timely appearance and is certain to rank as the most thorough study by far on the murder and the circumstances surrounding it. She has spared herself no pains and has tapped archives and sources with grim determination, including Dag Hammarskjold’s nephew Knut Hammarskjold and three experts.
The book begins with a quote from Dag’s Markings (1952), a work that revealed an anguished, almost tortured soul. “The hardest thing of all – to die rightly. An exam nobody is spared – and how many pass it? (italics as in the original.) The erudite aesthete read the classics in four languages and had a fine appreciation of music and painting. Aloof in demeanour, fastidious in appearance, he yet commanded deep loyalty from his subordinates. The U.N. acquired great prestige under his leadership. His post became a rival centre of power; no less irksome to the Great Powers because it was moral power, which the assertive newly independent states looked up to.
The author places the crime in context. Between 10 and 15 minutes after midnight on September 18, 1961, a DC-6B aircraft crashed near the airport of Ndola, a town in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). It had flown from Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and was taking Dag Hammarskjold and his entourage on a mission to try to bring peace to the Congo.
Frontline for more
Dag Hammarskjöld: evidence suggests UN chief’s plane was shot down
by JULIAN BORGER and GEORGINA SMITH
Björkdahl concludes that:
• Hammarskjöld’s plane was almost certainly shot down by an unidentified second plane.
• The actions of the British and Northern Rhodesian officials at the scene delayed the search for the missing plane.
• The wreckage was found and sealed off by Northern Rhodesian troops and police long before its discovery was officially announced.
• The one survivor of the crash could have been saved but was allowed to die in a poorly equipped local hospital.
• At the time of his death Hammarskjöld suspected British diplomats secretly supported the Katanga rebellion and had obstructed a bid to arrange a truce.
• Days before his death, Hammarskjöld authorised a UN offensive on Katanga – codenamed Operation Morthor – despite reservations of the UN legal adviser, to the fury of the US and Britain.
Guardian for more