Tanzanian chief justice appointed to lead investigation of ex-UN chief's death

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Tanzanian Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman to lead an independent panel of experts to reopen an investigation into the death of UN Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjld in a mysterious 1961 plane crash.

Othman will be joined by Kerryn Macaulay from Australia and Henrik Larsen from Denmark, said a statement issued in Dar es Salaam by the UN on Tuesday.

The statement said the experts will examine and assess new information related to the tragic death of Hammarskjld and members of the party accompanying him.

"The General Assembly also encouraged member states to release any relevant records in their possession and to provide to the Secretary-General relevant information related to the death of Dag Hammarskjld," said the statement.

It said the independent panel of experts will commence its work on March 30 and submit its report to the UN Secretary-General no later than June 30.

Othman was appointed Chief Justice of Tanzania in 2010 after serving as a justice of the Court of Appeal of Tanzania and a Judge of the High Court.

From 1998 to 2001, he was the Chief of Prosecutions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and thereafter Prosecutor General in Timor-Leste serving with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. Hammarskjld was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 10, 1953 until September 18, 1961 when he met his death in a plane accident while on a peace mission in the Congo. Endi