Evening star., 1960-09-30
HEADLINE PERSONALITY
Mobutu Man of Action
Who Doesn't Look Part
BY LYNN HEINzERLING

BY LYNN HEINZERLING
Associated Press staff Writer
LEOPOLDVnLE, Sept. 30
Nobody would be likely to pick
Col. Joseph Mobutu out of a
crowd to lead a revolution or
pacify an angry ana divided
army.
Only 80 years old, the 150-
pound Congolese army chief
Of staff looks like a drawing
board planner, not a man of
action.
Two weeks ago he pushed
his way through a crowd of
sweating correspondents in the
bare salon of Leopoldville's
Hotel Regina and announced
he was taking over the Congo
until the end of the year. The
immediate reaction was out
right disbelief.
When he followed this up
with the announcement that
the Russians and CzechS had
48 hours to leave the country.
there were gasps all over the
room. They were followed by
cheers from curious Belgians
who had forced their way into
the conference room.
TriumphS Over Reds
The Russians departure two
days later with their propa-
ganda planes and their Czech
partners probably is the great
est tribute the Congo's military
dictator has received in his
short career.
Another part of Col. Modulus
bold seizure of power was to
"neutralize" President Joseph
Kasavubu and the former
Premier Patrice Lumumba and
close down parliament.
Parliament has remained
closed. Mr.. Kasavubu and
MIR. Lumumba are still "neu-
tralized," despite considerable
maneuvering behind the scenes.
Most important of all. Col.
Mobutu has managed to keep
a tight grip on the Congo'S
volatile $4,000 man army. Army
units no longer rule the city,
striking a blow for Mr.. Lu-
mumba one day and one for
Mr.. KaSavubu the next.
Nothing is certain in the
Congo, but for two weeks Col.
Mobutu has held the army in
check and ended the wild
political Il free-for- all which
threatened to tear the country
apart.
Plots on Life Fail
:. Col. Mobutu has escaped at
least two attempts at assassi-
nation since he seized power.
He is guarded by his Congo
1ese troops even more closely
than the United Nations troops
guard Mr.. Kasavubu and MIR.
Lumumba.
Visitors at his bungalow in
Camp Leopold II have to pull
their trousers up to the knees
to prove they have no con-
cealed knives. An armored car
with a machine gun stands
outside the house all day.
Col. Mobutu calls himself "a
Christian above all and friends
say he is indeed a deeply re-
ligiouS man.
In the Congo. where the
Belgians were not lavish with
education, Col. Mobutu seems
to foreigners a good BRAIN"
although perhaps somewhat
naive. He went to school in
the Equator city of Coquilhat-
vile and then took a course at
the Institute of Social Studies
in Brussels.
He served seven years in the
old Force Publique or Colonial
army, being assigned to the
operations section of the gen.
eral staff in Leopoldville for
a time.
Edited News Magazine
He entered journalism, a job
for the elite here, while still
in the army and wound up
as editor Of a fortnightly news
magazine, "Actualities Afri-
caineS."
Col. Modulus friends say he
thirsts for knowledge and is
a real Congolese patriot and
idealist. They believe him when
he says he has no political
ambitions and just wants to
see an end to political discord
and a beginning to the task
Of constructing a nation.
He has been much in evi-
dence since the earliest days
OF trouble in Leopoldville.
In the frequent clashes and