Editing Martti Ahtisaari (section)

===In the Namibian independence transition===
Ahtisaari began his diplomatic career in 1973 when he became Finland's Ambassador to [[Tanzania]], [[Zambia]], [[Somalia]] and [[Mozambique]], an office he held until 1977.<ref name=cidob /><ref name=embtanzania>{{cite news |title=History of the Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam |url=http://www.finland.or.tz/public/default.aspx?nodeid=31642&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |work=Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam |access-date=26 June 2016 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813183825/http://www.finland.or.tz/public/default.aspx?nodeid=31642&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=kansalli /> This new mission allowed him to get closer to East African affairs, monitoring from [[Dar es Salaam]] the independence process of [[Namibia]] and maintaining close contacts with [[SWAPO|South West Africa People's Organisation]] (SWAPO).<ref name=kansalli /> In 1977 he was recalled by the [[United Nations]] to succeed [[Seán MacBride]] as [[United Nations Commissioner for Namibia]], a post he held until 1981, and as representative of Secretary-General [[Kurt Waldheim]] from 1978.<ref name=britannica /><ref name=cidob /> 

Following the death of a later UN Commissioner for Namibia, [[Bernt Carlsson]], on [[Pan Am Flight 103]] on 21 December 1988&nbsp;– on the eve of the signing of the [[Tripartite Accord (Angola)|Tripartite Accord]] at [[United Nations Headquarters|UN Headquarters]]&nbsp;– Ahtisaari was sent to [[Namibia]] in April 1989 as the [[Special Representative of the Secretary-General|UN Special Representative]] to head the [[United Nations Transition Assistance Group]] (UNTAG).<ref name=cidob /> 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.<ref>[[History of Namibia#Independence|Shaky start on the road to independence]]</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite book
|title=Namibia: Birth of a Nation
|author=Glenys Kinnock
|publisher=Quartet Books Ltd
|year=1990
|page=19
|author-link=Glenys Kinnock
}}</ref>

Perhaps because of his reluctance to authorise this [[SADF]] deployment, Ahtisaari was alleged to have been targeted by the [[South Africa]]n [[Civil Cooperation Bureau]] (CCB). According to a hearing in September 2000 of the South African [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]], two CCB operatives (Kobus le Roux and Ferdinand Barnard) were tasked not to kill Ahtisaari, but to give him "a good hiding". To carry out the assault, Barnard had planned to use the grip handle of a metal saw as a knuckleduster. In the event, Ahtisaari did not attend the meeting at the Keetmanshoop Hotel, where Le Roux and Barnard lay in wait for him, and thus Ahtisaari escaped injury.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doj.gov.za./trc/amntrans/2000/200928ct.htm|title=On Resumption: 28th September 2000 – Day 17|access-date=22 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916171009/http://www.doj.gov.za./trc/amntrans/2000/200928ct.htm|archive-date=16 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari and his wife were made honorary Namibian citizens in 1992.<ref name=kansalli /> South Africa gave him the [[Oliver Tambo|O R Tambo]] award for "his outstanding achievement as a diplomat and commitment to the cause of freedom in Africa and peace in the world".<ref name="tambo">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/orders_list.asp?show=226|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719021409/http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/orders_list.asp?show=226|url-status=dead|title=Outstanding achievement award|archive-date=19 July 2010}}</ref>

Ahtisaari served as UN undersecretary-general for administration and management from 1987 to 1991 causing mixed feelings inside the organisation during an internal investigation of massive fraud. When Ahtisaari revealed in 1990 that he had secretly lengthened the grace period allowing UN officials to return misappropriated taxpayer money from the original three months to three years, the investigators were furious. The 340 officials found guilty of fraud were able to return money even after their crime had been proven. The harshest punishment was the firing of twenty corrupt officials.<ref name="Sainio">Sainio, Pentti: Operaatio Ahtisaari. Art House, 1993.</ref><ref>The Independent On Sunday, 1991 May 19.</ref><ref name=cmi>{{cite news |title=About Martti Ahtisaari |url=http://cmi.fi/martti-ahtisaari/about/ |work=CMI |access-date=18 December 2019 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220114735/http://cmi.fi/martti-ahtisaari/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=kansalli />