Mass arrests in Jakarta: anti-Communist drive (The Times, 11 Oktober 1965)

=== [PDF page 1] === 1,500 REPORTED IN DETENTION AS PRESIDENT RETURNS JAKARTA, Ocr. 10 Mass arrests of communists have been made here during the weekend after the reported discovery of arms and a transmitter in the party’s headquarters when part of the building was burnt down by a Muslim mob on Friday. No figures have been given but unofficial estimates put the total detained in the past week at 1,500 apart from 2,000 insurgents captured in the fighting in other parts of Java. Anti-Communist feeling is mounting in Jakarta, and Muslim and right-wing organizations at a rally on Friday passed a resolution warning President Sukarno that any compromise on the issue would increase popular hatred and resentment. But Dr. Sukarno, who returned to the capital from his Bogor palace yesterday, is believed to be still trying to save his concept of Nasakom—a blending of N@tionalist, religious and communist forces. Meanwhile, a dusk to dawn curfew remained in force in Jakarta, where an Army spokesman today appealed over the radio for civilians to cooperate with the troops against the communists. Yesterday a crowd of Muslims were reported to have ran- OTHER OVERSEAS NEWS, PAGE 15 sacked a suburban office of the women’s communist organization, Gerwani, destroying files and burning office furniture. The Army and Isiamic political parties have been organizing processions in Jakarta’s streets, demanding that Mr. D. N. Aidit, chairman of the Indonesian Communist Party (P.K.1.), be hanged. Army units were still hunting armed communists, and fighting continued yesterday in central and east Java, according to Teports reaching here. Regional military commanders have expressed loyalty to their central leadership in Jakarta and have given pledges tu clear their areas of supporters of the “ September 30 movement ”. One report said 86 dissident soldiers had been captured while trying to flee to the hills in central Java. They included 57 men from President Sukarno’s _ presidential guard, and 29 men from an infan‘ry battalion. — Communists arrested include members of the Gerwani movement, some of whose members are alleged to have tortured the six Army generals whose mutilated bodies were found last Monday. Members of the Communist Party's band and choir were also reported under detention. Shooting Was heard during the round-up, Mr. Aidit’s whereabouts weer unknown but Mr. Njono, chief of the Jakarta branch of the party, was said to have been arrested after a chase near his house three nights ago. He was believed to be the most senior communist arrested so far. A report monitored in Kuala Lumpur said troops were carrying out day and night raids in the capital against the communists. They entered the one hotel to arrest four men. A fifth fell to his death from the third storey, apparently in an attempt to escape.— Reuter, LARGER NAVY FOR MALAYSIA FROM OUR CORRRESPONDENT KUALA LUMPUR, Ocr. 10 Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Malaysian Prime Minister, visited the Royal Malaysian Navy barracks at Woodlands, Singarore, today, and later announced that the service’s strength would be expanded fivefeld in the next few years. This would ensure that Malaysia's coastline from Thailand to the Philippines would be safeguarded. Last night the Tunku said he was confident that the Indonesian Army would be victorious in its struggle against communism. It was obvious, he said, that President Sukarno had allowed himself to be used by the communists; victory for the Army would frustrate any attempt by China to dominate South-east Asia. lt was announced in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that the first three measures leading to the formation of a common market in Malaysia, consisting of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak, came into effect at midnight on Friday. They are:— 1, The removal of a Jarge number of import controls imposed to prevent speculative hoarding before the common market terms were announced. 2. Parity of import duties in the two Borneo territories with those in Malaya.. 3. The exemption from duty of Malaysianmade goods which are moved within the federation. Dr. Lim Swee Aun, the Malaysian Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that if Singapore, expelled from Malaysia on August 9, was interested in joining the common market, the matter could be discussed by the standing committee, composed of economists of the two nations. Meanwhile, the Government of Malacca has accepted an offer by a Japanese firm to investigate the advantages of a £40m. industrial development programme. StnGapore. Oct. 10.—The staff of the Indonesian news agency, Antara. which was suspended after the failure of the coup against President Sukarno 10 days ago, have been asked to report for work as usual tomorrow. Jakarta radio said tonight.— Reuter. MALAYA ACCEPTS PARTY UNDER NEW NAME FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 10 The People’s Action Party, whose registration was cancelled in Malaya on September 9 because it was held to be essentially a Singapore organization, was accepted in Kuala Lumpur today under the title of Democratic Action Party. MR. THOMSON SEES BULGARIAN TOURIST DEVELOPMENTS From Our Correspondent in Eastern Europe—SOFIA, Ocr. 10 Mr. George Thomson, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, returned to Sofia tonight after spending the weekend visiting Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, where the Government has been investing large sums in the development of tourism, and hopes to attract an increasing number of British visitors, From Varna on the Black Sea, Mr. Thomson was taken to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second Jargest city and an important trading centre, for a glimpse of the country’s most advanced rural region. The tour provided another opportunity to explore possibilities for an expansion of Anglo- Bulgarian trade and Mr. Thomson, before he returned to Sofia. complimented his hosts on the successes so far achieved in re drive to develop the young tourist trade. LACK OF INTEREST _ Food and agricultural products head the list. of Bulgaria’s exports to Britain, but tariff barriers and a lack of licences, it is felt here, are preventing a faster increase in trade, which still amounts to a modest £10m. annually. In spite of 80 per cent of Bulgaria’s trade being with the Soviet block market, and an almost complete dependence on the Soviet. Union for large capital imports, there is a keen interest in increasing business with Britain. Although British firms are at present competing with other west European firms for four large contracts, Government officials complain of a lack of interest by British industrialists and businessmen in the Bulgarian market. The new five-year plan, to be presented to the Bulgarian Parliament this year, is to reflect a completely new approach to management and investment. The reforms, it is said here, are to be bolder and more extensive than those recently introduced in the Soviet Union, though they will not go so far as Yugoslavia’s two months ago. There has been considerable decentralization in Bulgarian industry. Nine corporations have been established and, with the reform, industry will be divided into more rational units in which price will be the controlling element. The Bulgarians claim already to have had considerable and encouraging results with their economic experiment, a claim which seems justified by the outward appearance of the capital, by an impression of well-being which the city conveys. Over the past few years, by giving the peasants a better deal and by offering them higher prices, they succeeded in placating discontent and also in improving the lot of people in the rural regions. Mr. Thomson, who leaves tomorrow evening for Istanbul and goes from there to Tel Aviv, is to crowd his last day here with a programme which includes a lecture on British foreign policy, a television interview, and a press conference. He is also to pay a courtesy call on Mr. Todor Zhivkov, the Bulgarian Prime Minister and party secretary, tomorrow morning. As the only Soviet block leader who still performs the dual function of party secretary and Prime Minister, Mr. Zhivkov is soon to relinquish his premiership in order to keep up with the new trend introduced a year ago when, after Mr. Khrushchev’s dismissal, party and government affairs were separated in Russia. NEW PRIME MINISTER _ Last summer Mr. Kadar gave up his post in the Hungarian Government to devote himself entirely to party affairs, and it is believed that the change in Bulgaria would have come sooner were it not for last April's events when a group of dissidents were arrested and subsequently tried and sentenced for alleged anti-state conspiracy. Mr. Zhivkov’s resignation so soon after would have given ground for speculation and weakened his authority at home; and it was therefore decided to wait, although the decision had been made last spring during the meeting of the central committee, Unless there are last-minute changes, Mr. Zhivko Zhivkov, the first deputy Prime Minister, is to take over the premiership. Mr. Todor Zhivkov would remain first secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party. THE TIMES MONDAY OCTOBER 11 1965 MASS ARRESTS IN JAKARTA |EXILES SHOOT ANTI-COMMUNIST DRIVE CUBA COAST GUARD FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT NEW YORK, Oct. 10 The unorganized exodus of refugees from Cuba, caused by the declaration 10 days ago by Dr. Fidel Castro, the Prime Minister. that he would allow to leave all those who wished, appears to be embarrassing both the United States and Cuban Governments. Havana radio today asserted that a group of “ unauthorized ” Cuban exiles from the United States had shot and killed a Cuban Coast Guard man last Thursday while engaged in taking off refugees from a point in Las Villas province, on the north coast of the island. The broadcast said the exiles, after shooting the coastguard, fled to the mainland, leaving behind American-made machineguns. From this, it would appear that the shooting occurred on shore before the exiles had actually started their return voyage. PATROLS INCREASED The radio, claiming that the exiles were making “a clandestine departure, in disregard of the Government’s offer of free passage’, added that “this criminal act must be taken into consideration with the negotiations now being conducted through the Swiss Embassy in Havana”. It also said that another group of four exiles had arrived in the island to take back refugees with permission from the Cuban Government but without authorization from the United States. They were said to have been welcomed by the Cuban authorities, and their relatives were reported to be en route to Camarioca, a small port in Matanzas province, which has been designated by Dr. Castro as the exit point for those taking advantage of his offer of free passage. The United States State Department says it will be another 10 days before arrangements for the official exodus can be worked out. It has warned Cuban exiles now in the United States against trying to pick up relatives and friends in small boats, and has increased its patrols of coastguard cutters and aircraft off the coast of Florida to stop the unauthorized flow of refugees who cannot be properly interviewed and screened. No one yet knows just how many such attempts are now being made to evade the official controls. Exiles in Miami estimate that some 50,000 of their fellow countrymen are eager to leave Cuba. From Havana it is reported that there is feverish excitement among would-be refugees and their total. number could be much more than 50,000. FRENCH CRITICS OF LAW ON INSULT FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT PARIS, Ocr. 10 The law of July 31, 1881, which defines the offence of insulting the President of the Republic, was criticized at yesterday’s hearing of the case against M. Jacques Laurent for a number of passages in his book Mauriac sous de Gaulle. More than one witness claimed that the political situation in France today was quite different from that envisaged by the original legislators, M. Francois Mitterrand, the left-wing candidate for the Presidency, asked in a written statement to the court whether President de Gaulle would invoke the law in the course of the election campaign, in order to avoid criticism from the other candidates. In M. Mitterrand’s opinion, the nature of the offence of insulting the President had changed in recent years because the functions of the President had themselves changed. In 1881, he wrote, the President was the arbiter of the political acts of the executive, without personal responsibility. In 1965, on the other hand, the head of state openly behaved as the head of the executive, and was in fact a party leader, the leader of the majority. THREE CHOICES This being so, he could not claim the same protection. If the President wanted to escape criticism and controversy, he had three choices before him: to develop a new conception of his role, to change the law, or to impose silence in the manner of totalitarian regimes. It seemed, M. Mitterrand declared that President de Gaulle had chosen the third of these, and who, if not the courts, could stand in his The court is to give its verdict on Octo- ' ber 22. FUNERAL PROTEST BY AFRICANS FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT DURBAN, Ocr. 10 Nearly 20,000 mourners attended the mass funeral at Kwa Mashu African township of 65 of the 87 Africans killed in a train crash at Effingham, on the northern outskirts of Durban, last Monday night. Women flung themselves on the coffins of husbands and sons. One African woman at the graveside screamed: “You whites killed my husband. Damn you all.” Prince Sithele, a member of the Zulu royal family, speaking at the funeral ceremony, criticized what he called the high speeds of some trains carrying Africans and the excessive crowding of coaches. He suggested that the people of Kwa Mashu, which houses about 100,000 Africans, should appoint a deputation to take up this matter with the authorities, and called for white drivers to be replaced by Africans on African routes. SCIENTISTS END THEIR WASHINGTON SYMPOSIUM CHEAPER WAYS OF DESALTING SEA WATER From Our Own Correspondent—WASHINGTON, Ocr. 10 Sandwiched between the Pope’s first visit to the United States and the President’s operation, the first international symposium on water desalination, which ended on Saturday, commanded less than its due share of attention. Indeed, of the three events, it may well turn out to have been the most important for, although 75 per cent of the world’s entire surface is covered with water, most of it is useless to quench man’s thirst, and even a2 country as well endowed with rainfall as Britain can be described as short of water. It was so described during the week on the ground that the rain falls in the west and the need is in the east, but this is hardly the reason why Britain played so significant a role at the symposium attended by representatives of 65 countries. This was due rather to the fact that two-thirds of the world’s desalinated water flows through plants of ‘ British manufacture. Growing Demands During the week no shattering revelations were made, but a great many scientists learnt a great deal about the problem of taking the salt from sea or brackish water, and some optimism was expressed that the cost of doing so could be reduced. The trouble is that sea water is about 34 per cent salt, while the human kidney can secrete no more than 2 per cent salt selution. Greater concentrations of salt lead to dehydration as the body attempts to wash out the excess salt. The trouble is compounded by the demands of industry and other forms of progress, such as the water closet, and by the need to feed a gicwing world poputation. Mr. Stewart Udall. the Secretary of the Interior, who opened the symposium on Monday, reminded the delegates that the world’s water supply is more or less constant. Elsewhere it was disclosed that the average American family now uses 16,000 gallons of water a month, that to irrigate an acre of farmland for one growing season takes 1,600,000 gallons, that it takes 13 gallons to brew one gallon of beer, and 110,000 gallons to produce a ton of steel. __ Industry now uses half the water stoply in the United States; by 1980 it will be using 66 per cent. In 10 years’ time 1,000 American cities, it is estimated. will have to resort to desalination to supply drinking water. Demand would be getting the better of supply already in some parts of the world were it not for desalination. Territories which either already have or will soon have desalting plants include Israel. Kuwait. Cvorus, Malta, Sicily, Tunisia, the Canary Islands, Hongkong and most of the Caribbean islands. During the week Mexice signed an agreement with the United States on a joint desalination project and Saudi Arabia announced that it was obtaining a large plant. Many of the firms who exhibited at the symposium claimed to have been in the desalination business for several decades, but the difficulty has been to keep the price within bounds. Two processes discussed at the meeting give at least some hope that the cost can be reduced. _ These are the flash distillation process, invented by Professor R. S. Silver, of Scot- Jand, which is already developed and which has been nicknamed the “tea kettle method”, and a pracess known as reverse osmosis, which has been much worked upon in the United States, but is still some way from operational use. Nuclear Power Britain, which has a budget of about £1,500,000 for a three-vear period. is pinning its hopes substantially on combining the flash distillation process with nuclear power stations. A scheme has been prepared which would vraduce 72m, gallons of water daily and 400 megawatts of electricity at once. If electricity can he sold at 4.58 mills (thousandths of a dollar) per kWh, the price of water from this system would be about 50 cents (about 3s. 6d.) a thousand gallons. If the electricity could be sold rather more expensively the water could be free.... This underlines one essential point which emerged during the week. Man’s reluctance to pay for his water is relative. If there is no other sort of water, he will be refidy to pay for desalted water at whatever price. The week’s deliberations seem to have made it more likely that there will be some desalted water for him to buy when the time comes and that the price will not be altogether unreasonable. NEW EFFORTS FOR EXCLUSION OF DR. SCHRODER FROM CABINET From Our Own Correspondent—BONN, Ocr. 10 Contrary to more optimistic reports appearing last week in the German Press, the enemies of Dr. Schréder, the Foreign Minister, in his own party have not abandoned their efforts to secure his exclusion from the new Government. Dr. Adenauer, in particular, has fired off two more newspaper broadsides against him this weekend, while Herr Strauss and Baron von Gottenberg, the foreign affairs expert of the Bavarian CS.U., made new attempts a couple of days ago to persuade Professor Erhard that the Foreign Minister must go; and that German foreign policy in future must be contained within a strictly “ orthodox ” framework. In the mass circulation Bild Zeitung yesterday, Dr. Adenauer conjured up the nightmare of encirclement as a result of a conduct of foreign policy which drove France into the Russian camp. “There are indications of an encirclement of Germany by France and Russia ”, he declared. “The Foreign Minister’s chair must be occupied by the right man. A new start in cultivating and revitalizing our relations with France could only be carried out by a man who entertains no lukewarm relationship to our neighbours.” There was no doubt, he added, about the necessity of the Atlantic Community, and of the firm alliance with the United States. Within that framework, relations with France were of decisive and vital importance. Dr. Adenauer saw the first signs of the encirclement of Germany in the trip to Paris last April of Mr. Gromyko, the Soviet oreign Minister, in the visit to Moscow at the end of this month of M. Couve de Murville, and in the presence of Marshal Malinovsky at the Austrian manoeuvres. Only a confident cooperation with France, as enshrined in the Elysée treaty of 1963, could protect Germany from such encirclement. This treaty so far was only a sheet of paper.. In another interview in Die Welt am Sonntag today, Dr. Adenauer gave a sur- Prising interpretation of the Chancellor's constitutional powers, again in support of his view that Dr. Schréder should be replaced, although he did not mention him y name. The Federal President, he declared, had the right to demand of the Chancellor a Cabinet list and a policy Programme, before putting forward his name to the Bundestag for election. He also had the right to reject any Minister whom he considered unsuitable for office. He himself, Dr. Adenauer emphasized, had always, in forming his four successive Cabinets, discussed their composition in detail with the Federal President, and taken due account of his views. He went on to add that according to the basic law, Mini- Sters, like judges or senior government Officials, were appointed or dismissed by the Federal President. There had frequently been cases of judges or officials recommended to the President for appointment by individual ministers, whose names were withdrawn when objections had been raised to them on account of their Nazi past or for other reasons. Dr. Adenauer said he himself had once proposed a minister for reappointment in a new Cabinet, but had withdrawn him in the face of the Federal President’s misgivings. ACTION BY BRITAIN IN ADEN STATE DEFENDED Eee S. ARABIA’S ADVANCE OBSTRUCTED BY *UNREPRESENTATIVE POLITICIANS? From Our Correspondent—ADEN, Oct. 10 Shaikh Ali Atif al Kaladi, chairman of the South Arabian Federal Supreme Council (Cabinet), in a letter to the chairman of the United Nations com- Mittee on colonialism, has defended the British action in Aden state as “ necessary” and has accused “ unrepresentative politicians * in Aden of obstructing South Arabia's advance to independence. The committee is expected to take up the Aden question after active canvassing by the Arab League, which has also sponsored a joint South Arabian delegation now in New York. It includes Abdul Qawee Mackawee, who was ousted as Chief Minister of Aden state when Britain last month suspended the Aden constitution and asked Sir Richard Turnbull, the British High Commissioner, to assume direct rule in Aden state, which is part of the South Arabian Federation. SHAIKH’S LETTER Shaikh Kaladi in his letter published here today said that the Federal Government, in spite of the obstructions it had been facing for more than two years, was determined to place before all states of South Arabia its proposal for an improved liberal constitution which would guarantee all human freedoms and rights, and impartial justice for everyone consistent with the guiding principles of the United Nations. He said: “ You will be told that savage repression is being employed to deny the territory (South Arabia) independence. Nothing would be farther from the truth. The Federal _ Government has already secured the British Government’s assurance that its demand for independence will be met not later than 1968... we have long Sought as a last step but one towards united independence to end the anachronism of the colonial status of Aden state. In this we have been frustrated not by the departing colonial power, which understands the justice of our demand, but by unrepresentative politicians in Aden who have obstructed the advance to independence.” MILITARY BASE _ With regard to the British military base in Aden, the Federal Minister in his letter said that the Federal Government has secured an undertaking from the British authorities that the whole question of the base should be a matter for free negotiation between the British Government and the Government of the federation at the time of the federation’s independence. Dealing with terrorism, the Minister said that the federal authorities had to devote increasing resources to suppressing murder and terrorism by “small numbers of unre- Presentative people who have become dangerous through money, supplies and weapons given to them by outside powers for the destruction of the federation and their activities have been supporied by a shameful barrage of lying propaganda *. He said the federation had had to defend people with increasing success by use of its forces and, when the Federal Government had so requested, the support of British forces in the territory. “ This has been misrepresented us the brutal oppression of scores of thousands of people... many distinguished delegates will however, know from the experience of their own countries that foreign-supported armed subversion cannot be dealt with by ordinary civil law.” The Federal Government would not maintain the state of emergency for a moment longer than was necessary.. The Federal Minister said that his Government hoped that the United Nations members would recognize that the manner in which attempts had been made to disrupt the federation’s advance to secure its independence deserved condemnation and not condonation, and that the United Nations members would aliga themselves with the Federal Government in its ultimate objective.. A British military spokesman said tonight that four imporiavt members of the Egyptian-sponsored National Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen were arrested in Aden state today. Three pistols,, and letters, and propaganda material were discovered during a search operation. Last month 29 known Front, members were arrested along with the seizure of a printing press, leaflets, documents, and arms and ammunition. These were discovered in a raid on houses in Dar Saad village just outside che Aden state, bordering the Lahej state of the South Arabian Federation. There are now more than 80 Front men in detention, including Muhammad Saleh al Aulaqui, the general secretary of the Petroleum Workers’ Union, who was arrested last Sunday. SOCIALIST LEADER IN CAIRO Cairo, Oct. 10.—Abdullah al Asnag, leader of the Aden People’s Socialist Party, arrived here by air today on a seven-day visit. He is expected to have talks with United Arab Republic authorities and South Arabian nationalists living in Cairo. —Reuter. Half your food doesn’t cost a foreign nickel. Ever thought why? Over half our food is grown by Britain’s farmers—more than in the dig-for-victory days. It doesn’t cost a sou in scarce foreign currencies. Farming’s record of mechanization and productivity would make most other industries look sick. Good. Well done farmers. So now what? We still spend £900 millions a year buying from abroad foodstuffs which could be grown at home. To cut this import bill, we need more research, more fertilizers, better crop protection, more intensive farm management—bringing all Britain’s farms up to the level of the best. | plant to fertilizers. plant protection chemicals. By continuous research at Jealott’s Hill. And by studying the practical needs of farmers in the most down-to-earth way ICI Agricultural Division is lending a hand. By investing £33 millions in new produce more concentrated By developing revolutionary —on 2,500 acres of ICi farms. — J Agricultural Division === [PDF page 2] === "Mass Arrests In Jakarta Anti-Communist Drive." Times, 11 Oct. 1965, p. 9. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS151218507/ GDCS?u=columbiau&sid=bookmark-GDCS. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.