Hammarskjold’s death remains mystery

Three assassination riddles from 20th century remain, writes

of Joburg.

Farouk Araie,

The new probe into former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold’s mysterious death in 1961 warrants comment. His death ranks alongside JFK and Olof Palme as riddles of the 20th century. All three men were liberals, their policies clashed with the military industrial complex. They were earmarked for elimination as the Cold War reached its zenith.

It has been reliably stated that explosives were placed in the landing gear of the DC6, which burst during landing manoeuvres. This can be proved by documents titled “Secret defence”.

The mission to assassinate Hammarskjold had been initiated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Maritime Institute of South Africa (SAIMR) and the UK Security Service, Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) with the active complicity of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) and was codenamed “Operation Heaven.” The head of operations was none other than the chief of the CIA, Allan Dulles, who was reported to have said “Dag becomes troublesome and should be rejected”. Dulles sent a telegram to his counterpart in Leopoldville on September 24, 1960, saying “We want to provide all assistance for the assistance of elimination of Lumumba”.

Patrice Lumumba was murdered on the January 17 1961. Dulles was fired by President Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He later served on the Warren Commission investigating the murder of President Kennedy.