Current Intelligence Weekly Summary

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Approved for Release: 2026/03/06 C03176167
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMARY
CONGO
Adoula and Tshombé on 18
March held an initial meeting
reportedly devoted to "identi-
fying the problems" and then
got together for a short pri-
vate session. Tshombé,
provinces--could not be sus-
pended by agreement between him
and Tshombé and must remain in
effect until revised. Adoula
said bluntly that "it was time
to find out whether Tshombé
\showed no would or would not integrate."
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resentment over Adoula's
absence from Leopoldville on
his arrival, is in a good mood,
and has apparently settled him-
self and his 30-member entou-
ragefor a long bargaining
Peri°d- say that
Adoula's 15 March trip to
Coquilhatville, in Equateur
Province, was required for
political reasons. Adoula,
who is of course interested
in trying to impress on Tshombé
that he is only a provincial
leader, claims he had no of-
ficial word that Tshombé was
coming.
Other remarks by Adoula suggested
that he continuesto believe that
only force will bring Tshombé
around.
Adoula's frustrations are
evident in a letter he sent on
15 March to UN chief Gardiner
to the effect that unless the
Katanga problem were settled
by late April, he would have
to withdraw from UN forces the
facilities and authority pre-
viously given. Adoula crit-
icized the UN Command for its
lack of support for Leopoldville'
efforts to quash Tshombé, accused
the UN of not carrying out its
mandate, and charged that as a
consequence Tshombé's gendarmerie
had increased its effectiveness
and firepower. While UN of-
ficials tend to discount Adoula's
resolve for a showdown with the
UN, his remarks are in line
with his reported new interest
in direct bilateral aid out-
side the UN framework. The
letter may have been designed
to set the stage for some move
,
in that direction if his talks
with Tshombé fail.
The two sides have ap-
parently worked out a schedule
of daily meetings, but there
is as yet no information on
the substantive content of
the talks held so far. Adoula,
pessimistic and sensitive to
charges that he let Tshombé
"off the hook" at Kitona last
December, is trying to play
the meetings in as low a key
as possible. The prime min-
ister appears less flexible,
probably reflecting the mount-
ing pressure on him to demon-
strate to his followers some
progress on the Katanga problem
and a growing awareness that
he may be in serious political
trouble unless he can do so. a loose Congo federation. The
In a talk with Ambassador ;
position papers prepared for
Gullion on 14 March, Adoula ’
Tshombé support this, and
insisted that the Loi Funda- ,
economic concessions suggested
mentale--the draft constitution E
in return for political con-
which establishes the primacy I cessions indicate a tough bar-
of Leopoldville over the gaining position. While the
Tshombé gives every indica-
tion that he will hold to his
long-standing position of
autonomy for Katanga within
gem?
23 Mar 62 WEEKLY REVIEW Page 9 of 22
Approved for Release: 2026/03/06 C03176167