andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he has yet studied the account contained in Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien's report of the series of events in Katanga leading up to his resignation; if he has compared that account with the documents in support of it and with the official version; and, if so, if he is now prepared to reconsider the statement issued by him regarding Dr. O'Brien on 13th November, 1962.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Report on Congo Events.
42.
The answer to the first and second parts of the Deputy's question is in the affirmative and to the last part in the negative.
I may add that I satisfied myself last year during my visit to the town and refugee camp of Elizabethville that a situation existed there on the 13th September which would have necessitated vigorous action by United Nations forces if the Katangese authorities did not cease their attacks on the UN officials and troops and on the Balubas.
Action, however, should not have been begun without the authority of the late Secretary General—then en route to the Congo and due to arrive within a matter of hours—and above all the action taken on the 13th September should not have been alleged to be an operation undertaken by the United Nations for the purpose of ending the secession of Katanga by force.
Much as everyone connected with the United Nations fervently desired to see the Congo reunified, no one, not even the Secretary General, had the right to authorise the use of force to achieve that desirable goal without the specific authority of the Security Council.
I am satisfied that the action taken in Elizabethville on the 13th September, 1961, was begun without the late Secretary General's knowledge. I am satisfied also that he did not regard the existing UN resolutions as empowering him to authorise any attempt to end the secession of Katanga by force.