UN General Assembly votes for probe to solve Dag Hammarskjold's death
The UN General Assembly has voted unanimously to ask Ban Ki-moon to appoint an independent panel to examine new information about the plane crash that killed former secretary general Dag Hammarskjold in 1961.
The UN General Assembly has voted unanimously to ask Ban Ki-moon to appoint an independent panel of experts to examine new information about the mysterious plane crash that killed former secretary general Dag Hammarskjold in 1961.
The 193-member world body approved a resolution by consensus encouraging member states to release any relevant information about the crash over Northern Rhodesia - today's Zambia.
The assembly's action follows an independent investigation by a Commission of Jurists released in September 2013 which concluded that "significant new evidence" exists potentially shedding light on the circumstances of Hammarskjold's death while on a peace mission to newly independent Congo.
It said the US National Security Agency may hold crucial evidence, which remains classified.
Hammarskjold was flying into a war zone infested with mercenaries and riven by tensions.
Congo won its freedom from Belgium in 1960, but foreign multinationals coveted its vast mineral wealth.