186. Editorial Note
The U.N. Security Council discussed the situation in the Congo at its 887th through 889th meetings, August 21–22. A telegram dated August 20 from Prime Minister Lumumba to the President of the Security Council had, inter alia, requested that the Council recommend to the Secretary-General that he should “make contact and conduct negotiations exclusively” with the Congo Government, urged “that all United Nations action in the Congo should take place in exclusive, continuous and permanent collaboration with the Government and that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the Congo should regularly report to it on the activities of United Nations troops,” and urged the immediate and total withdrawal of all Belgian troops from the Congo. (U.N. doc. S/4448; printed in part in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, page 556)
Secretary-General Hammarskjöld presented his interpretation of the Security Council resolutions and the U.N. operations in the Congo in an opening statement on August 21, which he enlarged upon in subsequent statements. He declared that he was not requesting “a confirmation by the Security Council of the obvious” but that his aim in asking the Council to convene had been solely to clarify the Council’s attitude. (U.N. doc. S/PV.887) In the discussion, the majority of [Page 435] Council members supported the Secretary-General, and the Council adjourned on August 22 without passing any resolutions. A Soviet draft resolution to establish a group of representatives to act in conjunction with the Secretary-General in daily consultation with the Congo Government was not put to a vote. (U.N. doc. S/4453) For the record of the August 21–22 meetings, see U.N. docs. S/PV.886–888. For extracts from Secretary-General Hammarskjöld’s statements and the text of a statement on August 22 by Ambassador Lodge, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pages 557–563.
On August 23, the U.N. Secretariat announced the establishment of an Advisory Committee on U.N. operations in the Congo representing the countries contributing units to the U.N. Force. Hammarskjöld had stated his intention of establishing such a committee in his opening statement on August 21. The text of the announcement is ibid., page 563.