Word: thant
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...There is nothing to prevent the Secretary-General from asking countries hostile to Israel to contribute troops," complained a senior aide to the Premier. Others grimly recalled 1967, when Secretary-General U Thant at Egypt's request withdrew U.N. forces from the Sinai, only to see hostilities break out almost immediately thereafter. At week's end, much of the sting was removed from the dispute when the State Department suggested the possibility of new four-cornered negotiations between Israel, Egypt...
...forced out by Egypt, the situation could be ominous-and there is a disturbing precedent. In May 1967, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser demanded a similar pullout of U.N. forces for their own safety in the face of "Israeli aggression" and Egyptian defensive moves. The late Secretary-General U Thant complied. Eighteen days later, the Six-Day War erupted. The Israelis were betting that Cairo would back down, partly because of fail-safe ambiguities in Fahmy's letter, partly because they are convinced that Egypt is not remotely prepared for another war. Jerusalem even suspected that Fahmy...
...fighting began when Thant's body was being escorted to a modest private burial service in a small family mausoleum in Rangoon's Kyandaw Cemetery. Probably because Thant had been a political ally of Premier U Nu, who was overthrown in a 1962 coup by President Ne Win, the current regime was trying to inter him with a minimum of fanfare. But the city's volatile students, who apparently wanted a more imposing burial site for their distinguished countryman, abducted the body on the way to the mausoleum. Along with antigovernment Buddhist monks, they paraded it through...
Angry Crowd. While Thant's family pleaded for the return of the body, the city government promised to build a suitable mausoleum near the renowned Shwe Dagon pagoda. Before an agreement could be reached, however, Burmese troops and police unexpectedly stormed the campus and recovered the body. Their action led to riots throughout the capital. An angry crowd of 3,000 destroyed a police station; the Ministry of Cooperatives and two movie theaters were wrecked. Police opened fire in response. Although the government claimed that nine rioters had been killed, some reports indicated that there were many more dead...
...Though Thant's burial precipitated the disturbances, discontent in Burma has been smoldering for months. Monks in the devoutly Buddhist country have long resented the autocratic Premier Ne Win's efforts to reduce their power and influence. Students and workers, unhappy about economic stagnation and the government's repressive policies, are natural allies of the monks. Last June, rioting led by longshoremen and factory workers left at least 22 dead in Rangoon's streets. The latest disturbances were at least as serious. More ominous is the fact that tensions are bound to continue even after...