Evening star., 1960-09-18
CONGO
Red Effort at Penetration Fails;
Lumumbo Missing, Mobutu Rules
Continued From First Page

O~@
In another development the
Leopoldville radio added to the
confusion by broadcasting a
call to senators and deputies
to meet in an emergency ses-
sion tomorrow "in the presence
of the government" The broad
cast did not say which govern
ment.
Wild rumors about Mr.. Lu-
mumba's fate swept through
Leopoldville. but could not be
substantiated by responsible
sources.
The most recurrent had
1t that he had been taken out
Of town by C0ngolese soldiers
and shot down.
Two facts lent some credence
to the reports Of Mr.. Lumum-
ba'S death:
Never before in his brief but
stormy career as world figure
has he remained silent and in
visible for successive days.
Only last Thursday infuri-
ated soldiers of the Baluba
tribe tried to lynch him 1T
Camp Leopold II, blaming him
for casualties among their
families during recent bloody
fighting in KaSai province.
Other reports had 1t that
Mr.. Lumumba was in hiding
in the Guinea or Ghana En-
bassy. had been smuggled out
in a Soviet plane or had fed
to Stanleyville, the center of
his staunch tribal support, |
In Embassy, New York Hears
I'm New York, Congo Presi-
dent Joseph Kasavubu's For
eign Minister said he was in
;teormed that Mr.. Lumumba is
In hiding in an embassy in
Leopoldville. He declined to
say which embassy. Minister
Justin Bomboko told a news
conference he received q cable-
gram at 10 am. Saturday from
Leopoldville with this informa-
ton. He declined to name the
sender, describing him only as
a friend.
(Thomas Kama, sent to New |
York by Mr.. Lumumba as Con-
golese ambassador to the
United Nations, said Mr.. Lu-
mumba is in good health and
still in Leopoldville. He would !
not say where. but reported
he got that word earlier in the |
day in a transatlantic telephone |
conversation with Col. Mobutu. |
Mr.. Kama said Mr.. Lumumba's
wife and children were pro-
tected by the U. N. force).
Among those who believe Mr.. |
Lumumba dead are members of
the pro-Western government
appointed by President Joseph |
Kasavubu. This government.
headed by Joseph neo, failed |
after Col. Modulus coup to
start the administrative ma
chinery rolling again.
The only sign Of Col. Mo-
butu's coup were heavily armed,
steel-helmeted soldiers in stra-
tegic positions throughout the
capital - particularly around
the national parliament where
they prevented the pro-Lu-
mumba majority from meeting
in emergency session yesterday.
The Czechoslovak Embassy,
one of the two Communist mis-
sions here, was the first to haul
down the flag and the first to
leave, departing on two small
Soviet planes. Members said
they were heading first for
Stanleyville to pick up several
score Soviet "technicians."
U. N. Looking
The United Nations also was
looking for Mr.. Lumumba. Any
announcement Of his fate
would have to be handled gin
gerly by the Congolese or the
United Nations. Mr.. Lumumba
has strong backing in Stanley
vile and the U. N. has only
token strength to keep order in
that city.
Mr.. Lumumba had called on
the United Nations to help re-
store order in the Congo after
a troop mutiny early in July.
A predominantly African force
was organized within hours by
Secretary General Dag Ham,
marSkjold and now numbers
about $4,000 troops.
In the meantime, Mr.. Lu-I
mumba became increasingly
bitter at the United Nations be-
cause it refused to help him
recapture the dissident province
Of Katanga. He called for So
Wet help and received 100 Zim
army trucks and about Is Ily-
ushin planes to transport and
supply his troops. Between 400.
and 500 Soviet "technicians"
came with the equipment. They
had to leave it behind, as it was
on "one-year loan" to the Congo
government.
BY putting all their chips on
Mr.. Lumumba, the Russians
evidently overreached them
selves. The firebrand Premier,
the country's most dynamic fig
ure and most persuasive orator,
displayed only an elementary
grasp of political relationships
in the world and in the Congo.
His effort to bring the So
Wet Union into the Congo ig-
nored % the opposition of
other African states who feared
the emerging nations of the
Dark Continent would become
pawns in the East-West cold
war and CO the opposition to
communism by Mr.. Kasavubu'S
Abako Party and other polit-
ical groups opposed to Mr.. Lu-
mumba.
Red Flag Comes Down