Evening star., 1961-09-26
Tshombe Holds Staff Chief
For Trial on Deal With U.N.


Sept. 26 (AP).-President Noise
Tshombe of Katanga announced
last night his former chief Of
. staff, Capt. Mwamba, is under
arrest awaiting trial for treason.
Mr.. Tshombe told news con-
ference Capt. Mwamba had
dealt with the United Nations
officials in contravention of or
derS of his military superiors
and the President. He added
he will be brought before a mill
tary court.
No further details Of the
charges were made public. But
it is reported Capt. Mwamba was
in touch with the U. N. intelli-
gence chief, Col. Bjorn Egge of
Norway, during efforts to ar
range a cease fire soon after the
fighting broke out in Elisabeth
vile September 13.
Col. Egge has said he was
escorted into the presidential
residence by Capt. Mwamba
during attempts to get negotia-
tions started.
BelgianS Gone, He Says
Mr.. Tshombe said II Belgian
officers and underofficers now
had left his secessionist prov
ince and insisted they were the
last remaining foreign advisers
with his army.
The United Nations had
charged that white officers su-
pervised Katanga military op-
erationS against U. N. forces.
The President said that in
fact these II were kept on with
U. N. permission to help the
Katanga forces with purely ad-
ministrative problems.
The charge that they had
led military operations, he said,
was part of U. N. attempt to
explain what he called its de-
feat in Kantaga.
Mr.. Tshombe declared that
not a single European has any
voice in running his state.
With the last Belgian's de-
parture," he said, "Katanga is
more free of any contact with
foreigners than such countries
as Ghana, Nigeria or other for
mer colonies where U. N. and
the world at large find it COM
pletely normal to continue to
use European technicians in
their armies"
Capital Quiet
This capital of Katanga
continued quiet but still is far
from normal. Most stores are
open for at least a few hours
each day, but at night it seems
a ghost town with streets de-
serted.
U. N. delegates to the mixed
commission set up to supervise
the cease fire are flying here.
They are Mohmoud Khiari,
Tunisian chief of U. N. civil
operations in the Congo, and
Col. Anders Kjellgren, Swedish
military adviser.
With two delegates of Ka-
tanga, their job is to insure
that neither side uses the cease
fire to reinforce its positions
and to negotiate exchange of
prisoners.
HammarskjOld Approval
U. N. headquarters in Leo
poldville said yesterday that
Dag Hammarskjold had ap-
proved the military operations
against Katanga. Michel Tom
belaine, a Frenchman who is
No. 2 civilian chief of the U. N. |
operation in Katanga, told |
newSmen in the CongoleSe cap
ital that the U. N. secretary |
general, killed in a plane crash |
several days after the military
action began, knew about it |
but there were so many cables
at the time that I could not |
say who signed the actual go
ahead"
Mr.. Tombelaine denied that |
the United Nations had acted |
on the orders of Premier Cyrille
Adoula's central government.
The Frenchman pointed out
that the Security Council had
called for the expulsion of for
eign military forces from the
Congo in February, but there
was no legal government in the !
Congo until August. When
one was formed, he added, the
United Nations was able to i'm
plement the resolution"
Mr.. Adoula announced when
the Katanga operation began
that he had requested the
United Nations to end Ka-
tanga's secession.