Word: belgians
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...rebel hold on the northeastern Congo by recapturing the towns of Beni and Lubero. In the west, another force rolled unopposed from Boende all the way to Ikela, a vital road junction 185 miles from Stanleyville. But the main force came from the south. There, led by a Belgian colonel and 250 mercenaries, the 2,000-man 5th Mechanized Brigade clanked out of its staging area at Kongolo one morning, rumbled 250 miles in four days, conquered the rebel communications center at Kindu almost without firing a shot, and found itself a mere 250 miles south of Stanleyville...
...world has been much quicker to forgive Kasavubu than Tshombe. But Tshombe has a uniquely broad base of unpopularity. The Congo became independent on June 30, 1960. Within days, troops of the Force Publique began a series of violent acts against European residents and their property. On July 11, Belgian paratroopers arrived to protect Belgian civilians and touched off a widespread revolt by Congolese troops against their European officers. At the same time, Tshombe announced that his province of Katanga had seceded from the Congo. He immediately called in Belgian troops to maintain order and protect him from the national...
Katango's mines are run by a few giant, foreign-controlled companies, the largest of which is the Union Miniere de Haut Katanga. Tshombe had always worked closely with the Belgian financial interests. The financial interests, in turn, enthusiastically supported Katanga's secession. The secession could easily be seen as a move to destroy an independent Congo, supported by Belgian troops serving the interests of Belgian capitalists...
Tshombe certainly tied himself very closely to these Belgian interests. Years before independence, when Lumumba, Kasavubu and other Congolese political leaders were organizing nationalist groups, Tshombe spent most of his time cultivating good relationships with the Belgians. In January, 1960, when Tshombe and other Congolese leaders attended the Brussels conference that decided on Congolese independence, even the Belgian press criticized Tshombe sharply for his involvement with unsavory financial interests...
Tshombe's fondness for the Belgians seemed stronger than ever when, during Katanga's secession, he insisted that Belgian troops remain in Katanga in preference to the central government's troops and to the United Nations soldiers sent to maintain order in the Congo. Dag Hammarskjold assured him that UN forces wouldn't interfere in his affairs, but Tshombe still refused to let them in. UN forces began to replace the Belgians in September. But Tshombe still had his own mercenaries. He neither cooperated with the UN nor dismissed the mercenaries. Through the end of 1962, Tshombe agreed repeatedly...