Lumumba Plans To Seek Aid

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29263, 22 July 1960, Page 15

Lumumba Plans To Seek Aid

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, July 21. The United States early today served notice that it would take any necessary action to keep “any military forces not requested by the United Nations” out of the Congo. Thq warning came after the expiration of a deadline imposed by the Congo Cabinet demanding that the United Nations Security Council call for the immediate withdrawal of Belgian troops. The Prime Minister, Mr Patrice Lumumba, said that he would make an immediate appeal for Russian troops.

The Congo is waiting with increasing anxiety for Mr Lumumba’s next step. He said he would await the result of the Security Council meeting before taking action, but, in New York, the Security Council adjourned early this morning without taking any decision.

In a reference to possible Soviet military intervention in the Congo, the United States chief delegate to the United Nations, Mr Henry Cabot Lodge, told the emergency session of the United Security Council that he wanted to make the position of the United States "unequivocally clear,” adding: “We will do whatever may be necessary to prevent the intrusion of any military forces not requested by the United Nations.

“Such forces, if they are introduced, would not only be in defiance of the United Nations, but could seriously jeopardise any effort to bring stability and order to the Congo.” Mr Lodge spoke after the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Vasily Kuznetsov, called on the Security Council to set a threeday deadline for the withdrawal of Belgian troops from the Congo. Mr Lodge made no direct reference to the Soviet resolution for the withdrawal of the Belgians, but said Belgian forces should be withdrawn when the United Nations was in a position to preserve order.

He charged the Soviet Union with trying to bring the cold war into Africa and said Moscow was attempting to obstruct United Nations efforts to restore order. The Soviet resolution called also on United Nations members to “respect the territorial integrity of the Congo and not to take any actions which violate this territory.” Mr Kuznetsov said that if “aggression” continued in the Congo, it would be necessary to take “more effective measures both along United Nations lines and along the lines of the peace-loving States sympathising with the Congo.” He charged that Belgium was trying to “strangle and dismember” the Congo Republic, adding that planes with rocket weapons were being dispatched to the Congo from Brussels and that Belgian troops were building forti-

fications to prepare for a prolonged war. Mr Thomas Kanza, the Congo’s Minister-delegate to the United Nations, reminded the council that Mr Lumumba had declared that unless Belgian troops were withdrawn immediately, military aid would be sought from the Soviet Union. But the 27-year-old Minister added that the Congo still trusted the United Nations. “It is for you to insure that this country will know peace and will not be a battlefield.” he said. Belgian Reply The Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr Pierre Wigny, told the Security Council that Belgium would withdraw all its forces “as soon as the United Nations forces arrive in sufficient numbers so that their commander can assume full responsibility for public order.” He called attention to the previous announcement that Belgian forces would be withdrawn from Leopoldville on Saturday, and added: “To the extent that the United Nations troops relieve our own troops, we shall immediately and without hesitation withdraw our own soldiers.” He said: “All we want is that safety be established.” In Moscow, the Soviet Government newspaper “Izvestia” charged today that United Nations troops in the Congo were aiding in Belgian "aggression” instead of defending the new republic’s independence. The paper accused “top officials of the United Nations” of “supporting the imperialist game,” American Associated Press reported. In particular, it criticised the Secretary-General, Mr Hammarskjold, for refusing troops from Guinea. His only reason, “Izvestia" alleged, was that the Guinea troops have their own African officers and are not under white control.

The article noted that Belgian troops, far from leaving the Congo, were being reinforced.