secretariat of the Council of Ministers to the press and radio, summarising the government's decisions. The Congolese soldiers were satisfied with them and tensions relaxed. Nevertheless, European civilians continued to try and flee the country. On 9 July the government delegations left the capital to oversee the Africanisation of the ANC. Mobutu traveled to Équateur and while he was there Mpolo acted as ANC Chief of Staff. Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba went directly to Matadi where tensions were quickly worsening. From that point until later in the month the two worked closely with one another and made most major decisions together. After appointing a new garrison commander, supervising the election of other officers, and securing the release of captive Europeans, the pair left the city to inspect other units throughout the Lower Congo. European officers handed over control to the Congolese in Kivu and Orientale without incident (the smooth transfer of power in the former owing to good co-ordination between the officers there and Provincial President Jean Miruho), but the military situation in Kasai and Katanga remained tense and was marked by violence. The government's decision to Africanise the army caused anxiety in the civilian populace of the latter province, which feared such a reform would result in the collapse of domestic security. The provincial government refused to support Africanisation and appealed directly to Belgium to intervene to resolve the situation. The troops subsequently mutinied, both in an attempt to dislodge their officers and to try and ensure that the Katangese provincial government could not effect a secession. Belgian intervention Belgian metropolitan troops in the Congo (the commandement supérieur des forces métropolitaines, Cometro), under the command of Major-General Roger A. Gheysen, were placed on alert following the dismissal of Janssens. In Brussels, news of conflict and abuses against Europeans brought public pressure against the Belgian government to take action. Walter Ganshof van der Meersch and August de Schryver were sent to Léopoldville with an ultimatum for Lumumba: either a formal request for Belgian military assistance could be made or metropolitan troops would act on their own initiative to protect Belgian citizens. The Belgian ambassador, Jean van den Bosch, urged his government to avoid the latter at all costs. As Lumumba was not in the capital, Ganshof and de Schryver met with other ministers in an attempt to persuade them to agree to a military intervention. Discussions continued late into the evening