Evening star., 1962-08-05
u. Ms New Tack
TOWN shombe
BY WILLIAM r. FRYE
Contributing Writer

UNITED NATIONS. N. Y. -
Quietly. without acknowledging
any change, the United Nations
is taking an entirely new tack in
the Congo. 1t is attempting to
conciliate Noise TShombe of
Katanga instead of bringing pres
sure on him.
Tshombe is being offered es-
sentially what he has wanted
from the beginning: Local auton-
omy in a loose federation of
Congolese states. The hope is that
in return. he will bring Katanga
into the federation, and will
share with the central govern
ment large part of the copper
mining revenues which are the
Congo's life blood.
If there is no response from
Tshombe to this olive branch, the
policy is likely to swing back,
once again, to drastic pressure.
But first reactions from Elisa
bethville. TShombe's capital, have
been encouraging.
1t is long gamble that the
U.N. is taking. After a certain
point, it will be hard, and rer-
haps impossible. to take back the
concessions now being made if
they are not reciprocated.
U Thont's Preference
Secretary-General U Thant
would have preferred to extract
from TShombe his part of the
bargain first, or at least to have
arranged a simultaneous exchange.
Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula of
the Congo would have vastly pre-
ferred Tshombe'S cash on the
barrelhead.
But it is being tried the other
way around. Adoula'S most valu-
able bargaining asset - his will
p ingnesS to grant local autonomy
- is being delivered with only the
hope, not the guarantee, that it
will bring in return a unified,
viable country.
This is the way the British
wanted to do it, and the United
States, omewhat t reluctantly,
went along. Without British,
American, and Belgian backing,
it would have been hopeless for
U Thant to have sought effective
pressure on Tshombe.
If Tshombe does not now come
to terms, after he has been
granted a great deal - indeed,
virtually all - of what he could
reasonably have expected, the
British and Belgians have prom
ised to join in economic sanctions
on him. And U Thant has made
clear he will want to apply them.
Economic sanctions would in
B. volve physical roadblocks by the
UN which would be likely to in
-furiate the KatangeSe and lead
to another round of fighting.
Thus the threat of economic
pressure is, in effect. the threat
OF military pressure as well.
The Chronology
TShombe must now respond.
UN people say they are confident
he will.
What has happened, chrono-
logically, is this:
On June 26. negotiations be-
tween Tshombe and Adoula
broke down. On July 4, U Thant
set out on a three-week trip to
key European capitals, in part to
seek support for a campaign of
economic pressure on Katanga.
Almost simultaneously, two
State Department officials, Har-
Ian Cleveland and G. Mennen
Williams. did a parallel tour of
the countries with most leverage
on Katanga. They, too, urged
economic presSures.
Belgium was prepared under
some circumstances to cooperate.
But Britain and France resisted.
Thant. frustrated, and furious at
hatangese actions and propa-
ganda, let loose his blast at
Katanga's clowns"
Secretary of State Rusk and
British Foreign Secretary Lord
Home wreStled with the problem
when they met in Geneva July
%. Home won, in the sense that
Rusk dropped the idea of imposing
economic sanctions at this time.