100. Editorial Note
On August 28, 1961, U.N. forces seized key points in Elisabethville and moved swiftly to arrest Belgian officers and mercenaries in the Katangan forces. Telegram 256 from Elisabethville, August 28, reported that U.N. Representative O’Brien had told Canup that the U.N. actions then underway were aimed at rounding up and expelling foreign officers and mercenaries in accordance with a request from the Congolese Government for U.N. assistance in evacuating the foreign officers and mercenaries serving with the Katangan forces. (Department of State, Central Files, 332.70G/8–2861) For text of Prime Minister Adoula’s August 24 request for U.N. assistance, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1961, page 830.
In a radio address on August 28, Tshombe declared Katangan agreement to the dismissal and evacuation of all foreign officers from the Katangan armed forces. Telegram 261 from Elisabethville, August 29, reported that approximately 82 European officers and mercenaries had been arrested, that resistance had completely subsided, and that a joint U.N.-Belgian repatriation commission had met for the first time. The commission’s meeting proceeded with such complete cooperation that O’Brien had stopped making arrests and hoped to develop a mass parole arrangement under the Belgian Consul’s guarantee that evacuation would be completed in the next few days. (Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–2961)