CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY: CONGO

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00202769
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 5, 2016
• Case Number: F-2014-02699
• Publication Date: April 16, 1961

Approved for Release: 2016/07/05 C00202769
-SECRET- COPY NO. 77
OCI NO. 0275/61
13 April 1961
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY
SUMMARY
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
EC
CONIFIDEIN
(b)(3)
3J
NO CHANGE IN CLASS. LI
DECLASS;FIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO TS S
NEXT REviEW � /990
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AUTH! �
019360
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY
CONGO
Maneuvering is continuing
between officials of the Stan-
leyville and Leopoldville re-
gimes. A meeting between
Gizenga and members of Ileo's
cabinet reportedly scheduled
for 10 April did not take place.
Officials in both capitals ap-
parently are becoming increas-
ingly distrustful of each other.
Leopoldville Provincial Presi-
dent Kamitatu, who has been a
leader in the efforts to bring
the two sides together, now be-
lieves that negotiations will
be postponed at least until
next week.
The chief causes of the
postponement apparently were
an order from Gizenga "dismiss-
ing" Kasavubu and an attempt
by Mobutu at unilateral nego-
tiations with officers of Gi-
zenga's forces. Gizenga, who
claims that as acting head of
the "legitimate government" he
is empowered to remove the chief
of state if he proves unfit to
govern, has issued a decree re-
placing Kasavubu with a "presi-
dential college" composed of
the ministers of Lumumba's cab-
inet who n � S anle ville
and Cairo.
Mobptu flew to Bumba on 9
April, allegedly to meet General
Lundula, Gizenga's army commander.
However, according to Kamitatu,
Lundula refuses to operate inde-
pendently of Gizenga, and Mobu-
tu's trip apparently was fruit-
less. Gizenga reportedly is un-
willing to go to any negotia-
tions without Kamitatu, who would
refuse to attend any talks in
which Mobutu is a participant.
UN-Congolese Relations
The possibility remains of
new violence in the lower Congo
river area between the Congolese
and the UN Command. In reply
to Hammarskjold's proposal that
a token Nigerian police unit
be admitted to Matadi, Kasavubu
insisted on a phased arrival.
This was deemed unsatisfactory
by the secretary general, but
he told a group of Western rep-
resentatives on 8 April that
the reply did not warrant strong
UN action. Hammarskjold implied
that he hoped to gain further
concessions from the Congolese
by negotiation.
(b)(1)
Congolese officials in
Leopoldville were told on 11
April that UN chief representa-
tive Dayal would return to the
Congo. Foreign Minister Bomboko
asserted this would lead to new
incidents between the UN and
the Congolese forces. He said
that no UN forces would be al-
lowed in Matadi and that the
Indian contingent presently be-
ing sea-lifted would be fired
on if it attempted to land there.
Foodstuffs are piling up
at Leopoldville warehouses and
sizable quantities of fish, ba-
con, and meat are going to waste.
13 Apr 61
"SregEz_
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY WM/My
Brazza vi it
Iona Malad
Luanda
Atlantic
Ocean
A senior official of the-Congo-
lese transport company blamed'
the UN for refusing to issue
instructions for distribution
and warned that company, opera-
tions would soon be bottle-
necked at Leopoldville, and
that facilities at Matadi would
have to be shut down. The Leo-
poldville problem, according
to the company, has nothing to
do with the issue of UN troops
in Matadi.
Military Operations in Katanga
Tshombe is continuing' his
harassment of UN officials in
an effort to halt the UN attempt
to blunt his military operations
around Kabalo. Elisabethville
banks reportedly are no longer
honoring UN checks, and Katanga
Leopoldville
aRlysAlle
1
-oblit of C. o o
) COquilhatville
.Opal
Wela.
Lduaboui
Balnyanes
UNCLASSIFIED
13 APRIL 1961
rALKs
31592
Kindu
.Lodja
Kongolo
Alberti.
Kabala
ElisabethvOle
Lake
AU,
LIsurnbura
Tanoanv,k.
troops at the Kamina base, where
some 1,400 Indian troops are
stationed, are maintaining road-
blocks and mining roads in the
area. The UN has reinforced
its contingent of Ethiopians at
Kabalo; a spokesman for the or-
ganization said on 10 April that
the UN was in "complete control"
of the town.
Efforts to airlift 1,200
Indian troops to Katanga from
the Tanganyika port of Dar es
Salaam, where the US transport
Blatchford remains with some
2,300 Indian troops on board,
are stalemated for lack of suit-
able aviation fuel in Tanganyika
and the limited airport facili-
ties there. The UN apparently
is attempting to airlift all or
part of the Indian contingent in
UN aircraft. Hammarskjold has
about 15 C-54s at his disposal,
which could carry 40 troops each
trip. Any of the Indian troops
not airlifted presumably would
go by sea to Matadi, or to Lagos,
Nigeria.
Hammarskjold fears that
Tshombe's military operations
foreshadow intensified civil war
in Katanga unless the UN can
promptly establish its authority.
He believes that Tshombe's moves
are an effort to undercut Jason-
Sendwe, who on 7 April proclaimed
himself chief of he Lualaba
state and called oa its people
to resist Tshombe's troops. The
secretary general said that he
is coming to the conclusion. that
Tshombe is "simply a criminal
and outlaw" and that the ele-
ment of force on Tshombe's side
in diplomatic bargaining with
the UN must be removed.
13 Apr 61
WEEKLY R.KriC.-M
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY
White mercenaries played
a crucial role in the military
effort against the Baluba
tribesmen of north Katanga;
Tshombe apparently is un-
der pressure from traditionalist
leaders in the Katanga legisla-
ture, who have introduced a
bill calling for the establish-
ment of a prime minister's of-
fice. Under this system Tshombe
as president would have a large-
ly symbolic role, and actual
power would be wielded by the
premier. The traditionalists
reportedly hope to install their
spokesman, Interior Minister
Munongo,in the new office. Mu-
nongo is an extreme conservative
who is strongly opposed to the
Belgians and is generally un-
friendly to other Europeans.
Nevertheless, the Social-
ist Paul-Henri Spaak, who will
most likely be the next foreign
minister, is expected to adopt
a more cooperative attitude
toward the UN and is said to
be planning to absorb the Min-
istry of African Affairs into
the Foreign Ministry, in the
hope of eliminating a major
source of pro-Katanga influence
and an important channel for
undercover dealings with
Tshombe. The new gover0X1):,
however, would not advoqb)(3)
a Congo policy which would
Seriously arouse the Belgian
public and jeopardize the pros-
pects for the domestic re-
forms in which the
torate is nrimarilv
ested.
elec-
inter-
b)(1)
b)(1)
(b)(3)
13 Apr 61
-31-t1R.Ez_
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