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Dag Hammarskjold was posthumously awarded the Nobel peace prize
1961: UN Secretary General killed in air crash
England have
The body of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold has been identified among
the wreckage of a plane which crashed last night outside the Northern Rhodesian
town of Ndola.
He was due in Ndola for peace talks following clashes between United
Nations peacekeeping troops and forces striving for independence in the
breakaway Congolese province of Katanga.
There was only one survivor from the aircraft. Twelve other bodies have
been recovered.
The survivor, Sergeant Harold Julian, a United States member of the UN
Security Force is still in a serious condition in hospital.
He told rescuers Mr Hammarskjold had ordered the plane to change direction
and fly to a new destination just before landing. Shortly afterwards there was
an explosion on board, followed by several smaller explosions.
The plane was due to land at Ndola late last night. It made contact with
the air traffic control tower, asking permission to land, then changed direction
at the last minute and turned north.
Mr Hammarskjold had been in the Congolese capital, Leopoldville, to
disccuss details of UN aid with the government when he learned of the fresh
outbreak of fighting.
He boarded a DC6 late yesterday afernoon to fly to Ndola for face-to-face
talks with Moise Tshombe, governor of Katanga province.
The UN was under orders to fly after dark because of the risk of being shot
down by a Katangan jet fighter.
The last contact was a message to the air traffic control tower at Ndola
shortly after midnight.
When Mr Hammarskjold's plane did not arrive on time, checks were made at
Congo and Rhodesian towns in case the aircraft had changed route.
The wreckage of his plane was spotted soon after daylight. The DC6 had
crashed through trees, hit the ground and disintegrated.
Tributes have been paid to Mr Hammarskjold from world leaders.
President John F Kennedy said his name would be "treasured high among the
peacemakers of history".
The British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan said the world would "mourn the
loss of a public servant who had pursued his duty with courage,
single-mindedness and devotion".
The Secretary General's death leaves the UN facing a crisis of succession
at a critical point in its history. The UN under Mr Hammarskjold's lead has
committed itself to armed intervention in Congo - despite Soviet opposition.
The Soviets have dissociated themselves from the formal tributes to Mr
Hammarskjold. They are likely to use the power vacuum to push their demands for
a troika made up of three deputy secretaries general representing different
political groups in the UN to make joint decisions.
Talks between the two sides have been 'frank and constructive'
1987: Superpower treaty to scrap warheads
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA The United States and the USSR are to sign
an agreement later this year to reduce the number of nuclear missiles.
US President Ronald Reagan announced the news that over 1,000 weapons would
be scrapped over the next few years.
The superpower summit in Washington will be the first ever treaty reducing
the total number of nuclear arms since their invention 50 years ago.
All the warheads at the site of England's longest-running, anti-nuclear
protest at Greenham Common will go as a result of the agreement.
President Reagan said the talks had been "frank, constructive and notable"
and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze said it was "time to reap the
harvest" after moving towards an accord for many years.
The arms to be dismantled under the treaty are all short and medium-range
missiles based in Europe and the Soviet Union.
The inter-continental weapons which can reach thousands of miles will not
be destroyed.
Even though the reduction only represents a 3% total decrease in the number
of nuclear warheads deployed worldwide, peace campaigners welcomed the
announcement.
The chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said it was the direct
result of persistent pressure from the peace movement.
Details of the treaty, including the crucial matter of verifying the
destruction of the missiles, have yet to be worked out.
But US Secretary of State George Shultz said the treaty was only the
beginning of the process.
"This doesn't solve all the problems by a long shot... But you've got to
start," he said.
Vocabulary:
disintegrate: break into parts or components(使碎裂)
dismantle: take off or remove(拆除) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:53:11