25 JANUARY 1975, Page 7

C IA and Tshombe

, fear that I am not among those who are weeping salt tears over the difficulties in which at the moment the Central Intelligence Agency IS finding itself. Seldom can there have been a bigger or less efficient intelligence agency.

I have a personal dislike of the CIA because tb,SY were responsible for the kidnapping and effective murder of my friend, Moise Tshombe, the former President of the Belgian Congo, and the most intelligent and wisest African who has emerged in that dark and unpleasant continent since the war. If you recall, they kidnapped him On a flight from Rome to Spain and handed him Oyer to the Algerians who were highly einb.arrassed. This flight was arranged in a British aircraft by two young members of the CIA who had been in Kinshasa and who hoped to suck up to President Mobutu. The Algerians were at a loss to know what to do with , shombe. They solved the situation by withaolding from him the drugs which he had to take daily as the result of being poisoned the firSt time he had been kidnapped after the Meeting at Coquilhatville. —.e was poisoned by some remarkable b"rican poison which meant that later when he ecame President of the whole Congo Republic h°" Zaire), Zaire), he had to go to France, to a • ta _Pt I nearl Orly, to have his blood drained, ,T,riti replaced, presumably with French blood. ne said to me afterwards, "I am now more Multi-racialist than ever."

The trouble about the CIA is that it was je!Panded far too fast and filled with inexperreed and enthusiastic amateurs. This always new

"aPPens to a secret service which has to recruit members at short notice. Our own was no 'xception. The total Secret Service vote in this

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