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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Former UN head Kurt Waldheim dies | Former UN head Kurt Waldheim dies |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The former United Nations Secretary General Kurt Josef Waldheim has died aged 88, Austrian media has reported. | The former United Nations Secretary General Kurt Josef Waldheim has died aged 88, Austrian media has reported. |
| The career of Mr Waldheim, who headed the UN from 1972 to 1982, was overshadowed by a scandal about his secretive World War II service. | The career of Mr Waldheim, who headed the UN from 1972 to 1982, was overshadowed by a scandal about his secretive World War II service. |
| Despite allegations he belonged to a German army unit that committed atrocities in the Balkans, he was elected Austria's president in 1986. | Despite allegations he belonged to a German army unit that committed atrocities in the Balkans, he was elected Austria's president in 1986. |
| Admitted to hospital in Vienna last month, he died of heart failure. | Admitted to hospital in Vienna last month, he died of heart failure. |
| Initial denial | Initial denial |
| The allegations arose in 1986, shortly after his nomination for the role of Austrian president. | The allegations arose in 1986, shortly after his nomination for the role of Austrian president. |
| The World Jewish Congress claimed he had been an officer attached to a German Army command which sent more than 42,000 Greek Jews from Salonika to their deaths, and was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Yugoslavs in the Kozara mountains. | The World Jewish Congress claimed he had been an officer attached to a German Army command which sent more than 42,000 Greek Jews from Salonika to their deaths, and was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Yugoslavs in the Kozara mountains. |
| Mr Waldheim's initial denial of the allegations - followed by his subsequent assertion that he was only doing his duty - caused international outrage. | |
| "Day after day, I have been relentlessly pursued over events which happened 40 or more years ago," he said during an interview in 1988. | |
| "My enemies kept bringing up new charges against me and promising new evidence. But this evidence never appeared." | "My enemies kept bringing up new charges against me and promising new evidence. But this evidence never appeared." |
| Many Austrians did not believe the accusations against the man they elected president. | |
| But they sparked international censure. The US, for example, banned him from ever visiting the country. |