Spy messages could finally solve mystery of UN chief’s death crash (Dag Hammarskjöld)

[muriel_volestrangler]

That the former UN secretary-general died in a plane crash while on his way to negotiate a ceasefire in the breakaway African republic of Katanga, is well documented. But the cause of the crash remains to be established.

That proof may become available if the US National Security Agency (NSA) complies with a new request from the UN and hands over crucial intelligence intercepts that could confirm what brought down the Albertina DC6 in a forest near Ndola in northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in September 1961. All but one on board died in the crash. A 16th passenger, Sergeant Harold Julien, the acting chief security officer, died as a result of injuries a few days later, having told medical staff he had seen “sparks in the sky” shortly before the crash.

Three separate inquiries have been unable to come to a definitive conclusion about what happened on the fateful night. Since then, conspiracy theorists have gone into overdrive, possibly with good cause. The day after the crash, former US president Harry Truman told reporters Hammarskjöld “was on the point of getting something done when they killed him. Notice that I said ‘when they killed him’.” Truman refused to elaborate but this served only to fuel the rumour mill.
...
The resolution is more than a symbolic gesture. It is believed that the US National Security Agency is in possession of radio intercepts, captured by its listening station in Cyprus, that will prove or disprove whether a second plane was in the air near Ndola shortly before the crash. If so, this would help corroborate claims made by a former Belgian pilot called Beukels that he accidentally shot down the Albertina in an attempt to divert it from Ndola to another airport.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/13/spy-messages-solve-mystery-un-chief-death-crash

[UTUSN]

1. R#2 & K n/t