THE CONGO TEA & HARMONY IT WAS ALMOST AS WACKY AS THE 
MAD HATTER'S OUTDOOR TEA PARTY IN WONDERLAND . SMACK IN THE 
MIDDLE OF A MUDFOULED ROAD AT PUMPI, 40 MILES FROM SECESSIONIST 
MOISE TSHOMBE'S LAST-DITCH HEADQUARTERS AT KOLWEZI, UNITED NATIONS BRIGADIER REGINALD NORONHA 
SET UP FOUR FOLDING TABLES AND LAID OUT TEA, PEANUTBUTTER SANDWICHES, 
COFFEE AND SIMBA BEER . AT 9 A.M., RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, 
FOUR KATANGA PROVINCE OFFICIALS AND THREE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNION MINIERE 
MINING OUTFIT ROARED UP IN TWO AUTOS . " WE HAVE 
COME TO MEET YOU AS FRIENDS, " DECLARED ONE, AND THE 
PARTY WAS ON . DESPITE THE APPARENT ABSURDITY OF IT, THE 
PUMPI TEA PARTY WAS A DEAD SERIOUS AFFAIR ARRANGED SO THAT 
TSHOMBE COULD PEACEFULLY ESCORT UNITED NATIONS TROOPS INTO KOLWEZI, THE LAST 
MAJOR OBJECTIVE IN ITS DRIVE TO END KATANGA'S 2F-YEAR SECESSION . 
TYPICALLY, TSHOMBE FAILED TO SHOW UP AT THE PARTY, BUT THE 
OPERATION WENT SMOOTHLY ANYWAY . WHEN THE SANDWICHES WERE MUNCHED AND 
THE TEA SIPPED, NORONHA LED A THREE-MILE COLUMN OF 1,000 INDIAN 
TROOPS STRAIGHT INTO KOLWEZI . WHERE WERE THOSE PROUD KATANGESE DEFENDERS 
? HUNDREDS OF GENDARMES HAD FLED INTO THE BUSH BEFORE THE 
BLUE-HELMETED U.N . TROOPS ARRIVED . SOME 75 WHITE MERCENARIES, INCLUDING 
A PISTOL-PACKING BLONDE AMBULANCE DRIVER KNOWN AROUND TOWN AS MADAME YVETTE, 
HAD TAKEN OFF FOR THE ANGOLAN BORDER . BUT MOST OF 
TSHOMBE'S 2,000 BEDRAGGLED MEN PAID HEED TO HIS PLEA TO " 
COOPERATE WITH THE U.N . AND OUR CONGOLESE BROTHERS, " DUTIFULLY 
STACKED THEIR ARMS AT A NEARBY DEPOT . AT HIS YELLOW 
VILLA ON THE EDGE OF KOLWEZI, TSHOMBE GREETED NORONHA WITH A 
GRIN . " NOBODY SHOT AT YOU, I SEE, " HE 
CRACKED . REPLIED NORONHA, THROWING AN ARM AROUND TSHOMBE'S SHOULDERS, / 
I HAVE COME TO THANK YOU FOR KEEPING YOUR WORD . 
" NORONHA WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS RELIEVED THAT 
TSHOMBE WAS STICKING TO HIS PROMISE TO REINTEGRATE KATANGA WITH THE 
REST OF THE CONGO . AT U.N . HEADQUARTERS IN MANHATTAN,SECRETARY-GENERAL 
U THANT COULD NOW TURN TO A PROBLEM THAT MIGHT TURN 
OUT TO BE EVEN TOUGHER THAN ENDING TSHOMBE'S SECESSION . IT 
WAS TO ESTABLISH THE CONGOLESE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE 
CONGO AND END THE ANARCHY THAT STILL REIGNS IN MUCH OF 
THE NATION . AS A STARTER, THANT APPEALED FOR $19 MILLION 
TO FINANCE 1963 CIVILIAN OPERATIONS IN THE CONGO, ESTIMATED THAT AT 
LEAST 1,300 TECHNICAL EXPERTS WOULD BE NEEDED AT ONCE IN THE 
BIGGEST AID PROGRAM THE U.N . HAS YET UNDERTAKEN . THE 
PLAN IS TO CUT THE U.N.'S 19,000-MAN ARMY IN THE CONGO 
BY 50 PER CENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PERHAPS BY LATE 
SUMMER . 