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    The CIA MercenarYS

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    JUAN RAMON
    NOTE: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA. It whs prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of National. Estimates and with the Clandestine Services.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved

    The CIA MercenarYS

    Uploaded by

    JUAN RAMON
    67 views8 pages
    NOTE: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA. It whs prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of National. Estimates and with the Clandestine Services.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

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    NOTE: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA. It whs prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of National. Estimates and with the Clandestine Services.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    67 views8 pages

    The CIA MercenarYS

    Uploaded by

    JUAN RAMON
    NOTE: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA. It whs prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of National. Estimates and with the Clandestine Services.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    of 8

    DIRECTORATE OF

    INTELLIGENCE

    Intelligence Memorandum

    The Mercenary Mutiny and the Tshombe Plot

    25;

    Top Secret

    25 July 1967

    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A00240'


    I
    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A0024002900dl-8 25

    CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY


    Directorate of Intelligence
    25 July 1967

    INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM

    The Mercenary Mutiny and the Tshombe Plot

    Summary

    The mutiny in the eastern Congo is sub-


    siding, and in its wake there is a growing
    suspicion in some quarters--backed by some
    —
    fairly good evidence that it was part of a
    larger plot aimed at restoring former
    premier Moise Tshombe to power. That
    Tshombe had been almost constantly engaged
    in some form of "plotting" since he left the
    Congo is almost certain. He may even have
    been in touch over the past few months with
    the mercenaries who staged the mutiny, since
    he was probably planning to use them in his
    comeback attempt. That the mutiny, however,
    was part of a Tshombist "master plan" is
    much less certain. The available evidence
    suggests that even if there was a plot, the
    mercenary action was essentially spontaneous
    stimulated by Tshombe s kidnaping on 30 June
    '

    as well as by parochial mercenary grievances.

    Note: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA.


    ,Itwhs prepared by the Office of Current Intel-
    ligence and coordinated with the Office of National
    Estimates and with the Clandestine Services.

    25;

    Appro d For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A00240029000N-8


    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A002400290001-8

    More significant

    are two aspects of tne situation itselt


    |

    which throw doubt on the theory that the mutiny


    was designed to be part of a Tshombe take-over.
    In the first place, it seems unlikely that a plot
    would be put into action right after its leader
    had been taken out of circulation. Second, any
    plot of this type must aim at seizing Katanga or
    Kinshasa (or both) to have any hope of success.
    For this, additional troops would be necessary.
    Although the story of a mercenary camp in Angola
    is one of the most durable features of the
    Tshombist-plot literature, there is no good evi-
    dence that such a camp exists. Without a camp in
    Angola--or a fleet of mercenary-laden planes in
    Rhodesia, or some outside force of this type--a
    mutiny in the northeastern Congo would have little
    chance of success. The plotters outside the Congo
    I I
    25
    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A002400290001-8

    have given many indications that they are aware


    of this and it seems unlikely that they would
    ,

    start action without being sure that more forces


    were available.

    One Possible Scenario

    3. As is usually the case in the murky world


    of Congolese intrigue, there is no completely
    satisfactory answer to all these questions. A
    good case can be made, however, for a scenario in
    which the mercenaries acted after warning their
    outside contacts but without the approval of the
    latter. On this theory,, the mercenaries, unpaid for
    months and knowing that Mobutu was planning to dis-
    band them, reacted in a typically aggressive and
    unforesighted fashion when the news of Tshombe''s
    kidnaping was added to their other grievances
    they moved into the nearest towns (Kisangani,
    Bukavu, and perhaps Kindu) shot up a few Congolese
    ,
    soldiers, scared off the rest, behaved in courtly
    fashion toward local Europeans, and then tried to
    decide what to do next.
    25;

    5. If this reading of the evidence is accurate,


    it appears that while Tshombe awaited his fate
    at
    the hands of the Algerian courts, Tshombe' s assets
    for any comeback attempt were being expended in
    a
    piecemeal and uncoordinated way which gave Mobutu
    an opportunity to neutralize the plot as well as
    the
    chief plotter. Thus, if Mobutu's outside opponents
    are still interested in moving against him in the
    wake of the kidnaping and the mutiny, they will have
    to do so with drastically shrunken resources.

    - 4-
    25;

    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A0024002900D1-8


    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T00826A002400290001-8

    25X1 Next 2 Page(s) In Document Exempt


    25 July 1967

    Talking Paper for "The Mercenary Mutiny and the Tshombe


    Plot"

    1. There has been wide speculation in the press


    and a spate of diverse intelligence reports alleging
    that the mercenary mutiny in the Congo was part of a
    Tshombist plot to stage a coup against the Mobutu gov-
    ernment. This memo is an effort to examine the facts
    as well as the allegations and to draw up a scorecard
    of the evidence supporting the plot theory and the data
    denying such a plot.

    2. We believe that a Tshombe plot or indeed —


    —
    perhaps several Tshombe plots did exist. That the
    mutiny, however, was part of a Tshombist "master plan"
    is much less certain. In any event, the available
    evidence suggests that the mercenary part of any such
    plot went off permaturely, stimulated by Tshombe'
    kidnaping on 30 June as well as by parochial mercenary
    grievances.
    25;

    >X1

    Approved For Release 2003/11/04 : CIA-RDP79T0082BA002400290001-8

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