Evening star., 1962-08-20

8 regarding my book, Re
belS, Mercenaries and Divid-
ends: The Katanga Story"
have come to my attention.
AS director of the United
Nations Information Center
in Washington, Mr.. Deane
can hardly be considered an
unbiased commentator on the
Katangan problem. Still, let
us examine his allegations:
Mr.. Deane asserts that
Georges Olivet, International
Red Cross representative in
Elisabethville, never re-
quested his headquarters to
stop U. N. firing on Red Cross
vehicles (page 1889.
Yet on December 6 a wire
service report compiled from
AP. UPI and Reuters dis
patches and carried in the
Chicago Daily News stated
that "the Red Cross repre-
sentative in Elisabethville
(Olivet) cabled his headquar-
ters in Geneva for an appeal
to the U. N. to stop firing on
Red Cross ambulances."
If Olivet did not so cable
he would have been well ad-
vised to do so: he was killed
a few days later in an ambu-
lance while on a mercy mis-
sion to U. N. headquarters.
There was not a correspond
ent in Elisabethville during
the time Of the December
fighting who did not see the
wreckage Of non-military
Katangan vehicles clearly
marked with Red Crosses.
Mr.. Deane asks what the
gendarmes which I described
page 178) as standing firm
in Kongolo were doing when
Col. Pakassa's Congolese
troops slaughtered % Belgian
priests in that town.
Mr.. Deane is, or should be,
well aware that the gendar-
merle were forced out of
Kongolo on December 81
after a three-day battle with
Pakassa's troops (the mas
sacre took place on New
Years Day.. He must also
be aware that the U. N. made
the garrison's withdrawal
(and hence the slaughter of
the missionaries) inevitable
by refusing to allow NUM-
tions or reinforcements to be
flown into the beleaguered
town.
Mr.. Deane takes issue with
my statement (page 134
that the U. N. was not ter
ribly concerned with what
happened to the Congo's
whites" and asserts that Ma
jor Richard Lawson led res
cue missions when whites
were endangered.
In the first place, the pas
sage on page 1874 refers (and
so states) to the situation in
the Congo between July, 1860,
and February, 1861.
I gave Major Lawson full
marks (pages 218-219) for
his bravery. But the fact re-
mains that Major Lawson
did not go to Kongolo until
January %, more than three
weeks after Tshombe had an
nounced that Pakassa's troops
were ravaging the country in
the wake of the gendarm-
cries withdrawal.
The Majors actions are
one of the few bright spots
on the U. MS record. Would,
for instance, Mr.. Deane care
to say what action the U. N.
took to protect the Is white
women (including nuns)
raped by Congolese troops in
Luluabourg in the first week
of November, 1861?
Mr.. Deane asserts that
Chester Torrey, Seventh Day
Adventist world secretary,
was not wounded in the early
days Of the December fight
ing in Elisabethville.
On December 7, UPI re-
ported from Leopoldville that
Chester Torrey was wounded,
"the United States Embassy
announced" Who is wrong,
UPI, Mr.. Deane or the United
States Embassy?
Mr.. Deane maintains that
my statement (page 18D that
the November "a Security
Council resolution gave U
Thant carte blanche to end
Katanga's secession" is false
and asserts that it only au-
thorized the use of force in
arresting mercenaries.
The fact is that the reSo-
luton applied not only to
mercenaries but to hostile
elements" which, as I state