Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Africa, Volume XIV

230. Memorandum of Conversation Between Secretary of State Herter and Secretary General Hammarskjöld⁰

New York, September 26, 1960, 6:30 p.m.¹

I called on the Secretary General alone at my request. I began by giving him the substance of the information contained in the attached talking paper.

When I finished, Hammarskjold said that he found it most difficult to believe that Dayal might not share his views on the danger of Lumumba. He went on to say that he is in contact with Dayal by telephone once or twice a day and he has always found Dayal in complete agreement with his views, and ready to carry out his instructions wholeheartedly. With respect to the arrest of Lumumba, Hammarskjold said that he had given orders that the U.N. troops should not interfere in any way with the service of a warrant or the actual arrest of Lumumba. Hammarskjold went on to say that the difficulty is that while various people may have in their possession warrants for Lumumba’s arrest, they have so far been unwilling to put them into effect because of fear of popular reaction to such a step. In addition, he went on to say that there is only one appointed judge in the whole of the Congo before whom Lumumba could be brought for trial in the event of his arrest.

As to activities of Ghanaian and Guinean troops, the Secretary General said that they have an order to prevent Lumumba from leaving Leopoldville and that so far they have carried out this order. I asked the Secretary General about the report we had received during the afternoon to the effect that Lumumba had been travelling around the city of Leopoldville in a jeep accompanied by Ghanaian troops with U.N. helmets. Hammarskjold confirmed the report but said that he had instructed General von Horn to call in the commander of the Ghanaian troops and demand that the officers responsible for this action be disciplined. Von Horn had also under instructions warned the Ghanaian commander that any further breaches of U.N. discipline of this sort would be dealt with more severely. The Secretary General concluded by reiterating his complete confidence in Dayal.

C.A.H.

[Attachment]

²

It is clear to us that Guinea, Ghana, and the UAR are deliberately intervening in the internal affairs of the Congo—both diplomatically and through efforts to employ their UN troops for national objectives, especially in support of Lumumba.

We hope you might be able to improve the situation by such steps as obtaining further forces from other countries, especially new African states, making necessary redistribution of UN troops in Congo to neutralize these tendencies, and taking other measures to assure obedience and discipline of UN troops.

We would appreciate any views you may have as to what else might be done.

We have also had additional solid information confirming what Amb. Barco gave you Friday³ that UAR is taking lead with Ghana and Guinea in concerting their action in the Congo. Nkrumah speech seems to be part of this.

You should also know that Amb Dayal (SYG’s Representative in the Congo) has been consulted in relation to these steps and that he is preventing arrest of Lumumba, has taken position supporting necessity of keeping Lumumba as Prime Minister, and has indicated that Mobutu is being supported by imperialist powers through payments to the Army.

As this is not the policy you have been following, I wanted you to know this, which is for your personal information only.

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–2660. Secret; Limited Distribution. Drafted by the Secretary’s Special Assistant Max V. Krebs.
1. The meeting took place in Hammarskjöld’s office at the U.N. General Assembly building.
2. No classification marking.
3. September 23.