Page "Martti Ahtisaari" Paragraph 6

Following the death of a later UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988 – on the eve of the signing of the Tripartite Accord at UN headquarters – Ahtisaari was sent to Namibia in April 1989 as the UN Special Representative to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group ( UNTAG ).

Because of the illegal incursion of SWAPO troops from Angola, the South African appointed Administrator-General ( AG ), Louis Pienaar, sought Ahtisaari's agreement to the deployment of SADF troops to stabilize the situation.

Ahtisaari took advice from British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was visiting the region at the time, and approved the SADF deployment.

A period of intense fighting ensued when at least 375 SWAPO insurgents were killed.

In July 1989, Glenys Kinnock and Tessa Blackstone of the British Council of Churches visited Namibia and reported: " There is a widespread feeling that too many concessions were made to South African personnel and preferences and that Martti Ahtisaari was not forceful enough in his dealings with the South Africans.