The Congo: Trouble for the Mercenaries; Help for the Rebels

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Tshombe wanted the Security Council to denounce outside intervention. Instead, the Council responded with a resolution that would hardly please the Congo's Premier. It demanded an immediate cease-fire by both rebels and government troops. Recalling his own state of mind during the Katanga secession, Moise was not about to give his enemies a breather. He himself had used U.N. cease-fires to recoup losses and prepare new attacks.

"Little Hitlers." Far to the west, in Brazzaville Congo, a German known as Slimane Hoffmann, who now works for Algeria, is reported training 800 rebel commandos for use against the Leopoldville government. An incursion from Brazzaville could open a strategically valuable second front for the rebels and ultimately cut off Leopoldville from the sea. Brazzaville's President, Alphonse Massamba-Debat, would be glad enough to help: in his year-end radio message, he praised Red China, Ghana, Algeria and Egypt and muttered darkly about "little Hitlers" in Leopoldville. As if for emphasis, Massamba-Debat delivered the last page of his address twice.

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