Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, was featured on Press TV News Analysis on August 30, 2012. Azikiwe discussed the history and significance of the Non-Aligned Movement that met in Iran., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
To watch this Press TV Top Five interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, just log on to the website below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/03/296352/us-uk-involved-in-plot-against-lumumba/
Wed Apr 3, 2013 3:35PM GMT
A political analyst says there is no doubt that several imperialist countries were involved in the plot against the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo Patrice Lumumba and it was actually an order given that he should be eliminated.
The comments came after a British peer, in explosive revelations, said that London’s spy agency MI6 murdered the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Congo, once described as “the most important assassination of the 20th century”.
Patrice Lumumba was the central figure in the Congolese fight for independence from Belgium in 1960 and was assassinated by gun shots on January 17, 1961.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, to further discuss the issue.
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Tell us about the significance of this, I mean there were much speculations over the years that this was the case but now that this has come to light, how significant is it?
Azikiwe: I think it is very significant.
Unfortunately Mrs. Park is no longer with us and these claims that were made by a colleague of her's cannot actually be verified.
Of course it would be wonderful if the documents from MI6 in relationship to the latter days of Belgian colonialism in Congo and also the early days of the Independence Movement in Congo between 1959 and 1961, could be released for historians and investigative journalists to sift through, to actually expose what the role of Britain was in this whole situation.
There is no doubt about it that several imperialist countries were involved in the plot against Patrice Lumumba and the Movement National Conglais-Lumumba (MNC-L) which was his political party. They were the most revolutionary, Pan-Africanist movement.
They had the largest bloc of political support within the initial of parliament that was established in 1960 in Congo.
We also know definitely that the Eisenhower administration was heavily involved. There had been high level meetings among intelligence officials in Washington D.C., people in the State Department, people in the Central Intelligence Agency and it was actually an order given. It has been documented in several sources that Lumumba should be eliminated.
Press TV: Let me just interrupt because I am sure there are many viewers that may not know the background of the story. Why is it that you think that Washington and London would have wanted to eliminate him?
Azikiwe: Lumumba was a revolutionary, he was someone who was very charismatic. At the independence ceremony on June 30th of 1960 he actually condemned the role of Belgian colonialism inside his country.
Congo then and even today is one of the wealthiest in terms of mineral resources on the African continent. This was during the height of the Cold War. It was very strong feelings that his government would lean more towards the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union and there was a real fear that the US would lose out as well as the other imperialist countries in this whole rush to win over these newly independent African states.
Press TV: Tell us when we fast forward to the Congo of today, are we looking at a totally different Congo than if he had not, Mr. Lumumba had not been assassinated, do you think it would have taken a different path?
Azikiwe: Most definitely. He had formed an alliance with Kwame Nkrumah, with other progressive revolutionary leaders on the African continent at that time and that is why they struck decisively during the early phase of the independence movement.
Congo today still has a tremendous amount of internal turmoil that is going on in the eastern region of the country and of course many multinational mining corporations are involved in exploiting the resources there.
There are sections of the country that are not even under the control of the national government in Kinshasa.
So yes, it would definitely have been a very different Congo. It would have been a very different African continent had Lumumba lived. If he had been able to consolidate his revolutionary movement inside the country. Congo is the heart of Africa.
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