SITUATION IN THE CONGO AS OF 0800 EST, 11 JULY 1960

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79S00427A000100040010-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2006
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: July 11, 1960
• Content Type: IM

Approved For ReIeW 0006/0274:C1 -DP79S00427AO%XO040010-4
(hand stamp appropriate
classification above and
below the holes of mat)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
11 July 1960
margin 24
on mat)
=OP
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Situation in the, Congo as of 0800 EST, (margin 84
1.1 July 1960:
(4 lines
general strike.
1. The situatiorjdn, the Congo continues to
deteriorate. Belgian troops are maintaining order
in Elisabethville and Luluabourg;, but the troops in
each location reportedly are barely adequate to control
the situation. Belgian troops have al~o intervened
in Stanleyville--the first indication that the mutiny
has spread to Orientale Province. Ser ous rioting
was reported in the port city,.-of Matad last night.
The situation in Leopoldville is calm It the moment,
but Congolese civilians reportedly arelplanning a
2. Confusionirreigns in the Congolese government,
with ministers often acting at cross purposes. Last
night Premier Lumuumba,denounced the dispatch of Bel-
.gian troops; he also took the time to send a friendly
reply to the USSR's independencecmessage. This morning
he stated that-the Congo-Belgian friendship treaty had
3 lines)
been violated by Belgium's interventioh and-.would have
to be renegotiated. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bomboko
has confirmed that he asked for Belgiaa aid. The govern-
ment apparently is still able to induce order among
Congolese troops through concessions a~d personal ap-
pearances of its ministers,; the area u der its direct
control is thus limited by the mobilit~ of the cabin t.
3. Katanga Province Premier Mois~e Tshombd has
apparently postponed an attempt to proclaim an in-
(line 54)
dependent state. He has used the breakdown of central
Approved For; Release 2006/02/09 : CIA-RDP79SO0427A00100040010-4
SECRET
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authority to assert a kind of de facto independence;
however. Although the British consul ins B1is;beth.
ville urged him to set up a separate state,.the
British and Rhodesian governments apparently are
officially discouraging Katanga separatism. Brussels
has also attempted to put a brake on thellincipient
fragmentation with a statement that it was up to
the Congolese people--by implication, the people
as a whole--to revise their constitution and permit
Katanga secession.
4. Belgian troops in the Congo or on the way
total about 5,200. Brussels announced this morning
that four more companies, with a total strength of
480 men, would be. flown down today. Belgian military
aircraft in. the country include two DC-4's, two
DC-6's, mine C-119's, eight C-47's, and ir~ourteen'.`...
T-6's. The latter are armed with 30-caliber machine
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