She provided social programmes, counselling, varied dance forms, stagecraft, martial arts, music, and percussion to lure young people away from street crime and give them self-respect. Her involvement led to a brief arrest in the turmoil following the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.Among other activities, in 1963 she became the first black choreographer for the Metropolitan Opera, with Aida, and she was cultural adviser to the President and the Minister of Cultural Affairs of Senegal, 1965-66. Her extensive writings included books about her fieldwork on war dances in Jamaica, about her childhood, and about her experiences in Haiti.Much honoured in France, Haiti and Brazil, as well as the United States, she received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and an Albert Schweitzer Award in 1979 “for her contributions to the performing arts and her dedication to humanitarian work”.Marilyn Hunt. To anyone who despairs of the outside world’s chances of doing anything about the suppression of democracy in countries such as Burma, it is worth pointing out that the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would never have been allowed to speak to any foreigner if it was not for the threat of UN action.

Under house arrest since 2003, and forbidden visitors, she was finally allowed to receive and talk privately with the UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, last weekend The reason is simple. After years of neglect, the UN, partly under American prodding, has finally started to take an active interest in Burmese affairs, complaining both at the lack of democracy and the recent onslaught launched against dissident tribal peoples. Having refused permission for any UN visit for two years, the government finally relented last week

So far so good. At least the visit is happening and at least Mr Gambari has been allowed to raise the issues of refugees from the war against the Karen tribe, humanitarian assistance to minorities and steps towards democracy directly to the generals. But the fear must be – and it is a suspicion well founded by recent experience of such UN initiatives – that gestures such as this are sops to keep the outside world happy rather than genuine moves to respond to international calls for change.. The Prime Minister’s unannounced trip to Baghdad yesterday was an ambitious gesture of support for Iraq’s first permanent government since the US and British invasion that removed Saddam Hussein.

And there should be no doubting Mr Blair’s courage or his conviction in making the journey. Baghdad may be a far less dangerous place for foreign dignitaries than it is for ordinary Iraqis, but it is a dangerous place nonetheless. There can be no doubting, either, the Prime Minister’s commitment to Iraq’s future. He regards the formation of the unity government as the last piece of the constitutional jigsaw, which in formal terms it is. Outwardly, the components are in place for Iraqis to govern themselves. Pointing out that Iraq now had a government of national unity in which all major groups were represented, Mr Blair said sharply that there was “no vestige of excuse for anyone to carry on with terrorism or bloodshed”. Which is where Mr Blair’s vision of Iraq as he would like it to be parts company with the harsh reality that the military intervention has brought about.