N.Z. STAND ON CONGO

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29315, 21 September 1960, Page 15

N.Z. STAND ON CONGO

“Principles Tested”

(Rec. 11.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Sept 19

New Zealand told the United Nations General Assembly today that if the United Nations operation in the Congo failed, it would not be because of the United Nations command or the Secre-tary-General (Mr Hammarskjold). The chief New Zealand delegate (Mr Foss Shanahan) said during the emergency Congo debate that differences about the way Security Council resolutions should be carried out had resulted in the issue coming before the Assembly.

New Zealand regarded with satisfaction the speed and efficiency of the action already taken. Great responsibility had fallen on the Secretary-General and New Zealand applauded the vigour and courage with which he and his representatives had dealt with their problems. It was important that the United Nations should establish a fund for the Congo, and the utmost efforts must be made to restore law and order, Mr Shanahan said. The Congo crisis involved a “test of principles which far transcends the immediate problems faced by the United Nations in the Congo.” What was at stake, he sata. was "the influence and authority of this organisation in its primary role as the guardian of world peace and international order. “To my own country, and. no doubt, to many other small countries which look to the United Nations as the ultimate protector of their liberties, it is of paramount importance that this organisation should not be undermined.” he said. Mr Shanahan expressed New Zealand's support for an AfroAsian resolution aimed at continuing the United Nations operation in the Congo and sealing the troubled State from foreign military intervention outside the United Nations. He said that the draft appeared to “offer a basis on which we may be able to find a satisfactory conclusion to this debate.”