Abstract
By October 1964 the rebels were beginning to feel the pressure from the central government forces, spearheaded by European mercenary commandos and supported by US combat and transport aircraft. On the 28th Victor Gbenye, prime minister of the NLC-declared People’s Republic of the Congo, ensconced in Stanleyville, declared bitterly that as Belgians were now openly helping the central government, his regime could no longer guarantee the safety of Belgian nationals and their property. The same day Victor Olenga, the rebel army commander, announced that all Westerners in the Stanleyville area, estimated to be about 800 Belgians and 60 Americans, were to be placed under house arrest. The Belgian consul in Stanleyville appealed to the Belgian government to forbid the involvement of Belgian officers in Congolese military operations as the lives of ‘525 Belgians and 24 Americans’ depended upon it.
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© 2000 Edgar O’Ballance
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O’Ballance, E. (2000). The NLC in Retreat. In: The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960–98. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286481_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286481_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-41119-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28648-1
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