Jakarta releases 8,000 political prisoners (The Times, 27 Juli 1978)

=== [PDF page 1] === OVERSEAS From David Cross Washington, July 26 To the relief of President Carter and his foreign policy advisers, the Senate today rejected a move by conservative members, led by Senator Jesse Helms, a Republican from North Carolina, to lift Ameriean trade sanctions on Rhodesia, immediately. A compromise proposal that holds out the possibility of sanctions being lifted at some future stage was approved by 39 votes to 36. The two conditions laid down were that a new democratic government would have to be established in Salisbury and that Mr Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister, and his black partmers in the Internal settlement would have to enter in good faith, into negotiations with the Patriotic Front guerrilla leaders outside the country. Tf the Patriotic Front refused to take part in such discussions, or if no agreement were reached, the President could order a lifting of sanctions. Salisbury: Rhodesia’s first election with universal suffrage will be held over three days in December, it was announced here today. THe Cancellation of US visit angers Russians From Michael Binyor Moscow, July 26 The Russians, still smarting from President Carter’s cancellation of the sale of an advanced computer to Tass, today attacked the recent cancellation of a visit here by Dr Frank Press, the President’s scientific adviser. The joint Soviet-American Commission on Sceintitic aad Technical Cooperation was to sit in Moscow this month. But the Carter Administration stopped Dr Press’s visit as soon as it learnt of the sentences on three Soviet members of the Helsinki human rights monitoring group. Tass rejected the Americans’ motives for delaying the session as ‘impermissible interference in the Soviet Union’s internal affairs’. It said that the unilateral American action damaged Soviet-American scientific and technical ties. Tass again denounced the cancellation of the sale of the Sperry Rand Univac computer, saying that it was in accordance with the mood of some of the President’s advisers “who do not conceal their dislike of the Soviet press and who woud very much like to harm it.” Tt added: “We can say frankly to these gentlemen: with or without a computer the Soviet press will continue to rebuff all your attacks, all your efforts to distort Soviet policy and to drive a wedge in rela. tions of friendship and cocperation between the peoples.” Somebody would have to com. pensate for the damage caused by the breach of contract, it went on. Once an agreement was signed, it had to be carried eut, This was the basic prin. ciple of international relations, and those who violated this principle “risked losing for ever the reputation of a trustworthy partner”. So far there has been no official Soviet reaction to the Carter Administration’s latest announcement that all further ex ges with the Russians would be put off until the political climate has improved. On past precedent, the Russians are likely to plan some retaliatory measures. The scope for that, however, is limited as trade with the United States is already in the doldrunis. The intensity of Soviet anger on the trade cancellations is probably due to the fact that is is the first tangible action of the Carter Administration that has affected Soviet interests. ine announcement, however, was accompanied by a warning that the guerrilla war could prevent the pol] from taking place. Announcing the provisional timetable for the elections which must precede Rhodesia’s change to a black-ruled Zimbabwe on December 31, Mr Rowan Cronje, the white Co- Minister of Social Affairs, said: “whether it will be possible for these elections to be held only time will tell.”: According to the plan, the new constitution should be accepted in a white referendum and enacted by Parliament by October 20. By October 31 parties will have been expected’ to have drawn up their lists of candidates and ballot papers would be distributed throughout the country by December 3. Polling would take place between December 4 and 6, Mr Cronje said. Because of the short time available it had been decided not to register black voters, who are believed to total some 3,750,000. Instead, voters would be required to produce at polling station some proof that they were citizens and more than 18 years old, he said. Christian suburb cut off by Syrian troops in Beirut Beirut, July 26.—Syrian troops besieged right-wing Lebanese militiamen in a devastated Beirut suburb today as the Government struggled to prevent another big battle. Buildings and forests smouldered in the Christian district of Hadath, where residents took shelter in their damaged homes after at least 30 civilians were reported killed and more than 50 wounded by heavy artillery bombardments last night. The area is surrounded by Syrian soldiers backe dby tanks and rocket batteries. Mr Dany Chamoun, commander of the right-wing National Liberal Party militia, said that Hadath was circled by about 4,000 Syrian troops, 10 artillery emplacements and more than Cook Islands | Leftist cell judge given police guard Wellington, July 26.—Five New Zealand policemen have been flown to the Cook Islands to protect Chief Justice Gaven Donne, who delivered a ruling on yesterday that ousted Sir Albert Henry, the Premier, and his Government for bribery and corruption in the election last March. Mr Robert Muldoon, the New Zealand Prime Minister, said police would act if requested to protect Mr Justice Donne. Latest reports from Rarotonga, capital of the Cook Islands, sav that the five policemen have been sworn in as members of the Islands’ police force at the request of Dr Tom Davis, who today became the new Premier. The reports also say that Chief Justice Donne has ordered controls on Rarotonga radio station, the chief source of information in the islands. He ordered his ruling to be broadcast, along with a speech by the new Premier. The order dictated that the Tadio station could broadcast music, weather, everseas news bulletins and names of people needed for urgent messages but there was to be no other local news. Mr Justice Donne disallowed votes cast in the March 30 general election by Cook Islands expatriates flown from New Zealand in charter aircraft paid for by public funds. He amended the ballot on the basis of legal votes, unseating Sir Albert and seven of his colleagues, this shifting the majority in the Legislative Assembly.—Agence France-Presse. China-Pakistan road link causes Indian concern From Richard Wigg Delhi, July 26 India today warned China and Pakistan that if he Karahoram mountain highway, opened between the two countries last month, is used for anything other than peaceful economic purposes it will create “a very critical situation ” in the whole region. The warning was given by Mr Jagjivan Ram, the Defence Minister, who had been challenged in Parliament by the opposition Congress supporters of Mrs Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister, to deny that the opening last month of the Chinese-built 500mile mountain road had brought a serious security risk nearer to northern India which 3s strategically vulnerable. The formal opening of the road on June 18 by General Zia, Pakistan’s military ruler, in the presence of a Chinese Deputy Prime Minister left the Indian Government with little opportunity to do more than make a formal! protest. Its position is that the road is illegal because it passes through a part of Kashmir, which is claimed by India, but has been eccupied by Pakistan after the 1947 partition. The Defence Minister coupled his warning with assurances that India was determined to safeguard its security in the region “at all costs”. He said that the quessince tion of the highway was a further issue to be discussed, together with the longstanding border dispute, when Mr A. B. Vajpayee, the Minister of External Affairs, visits Peking, probably in October., The visit is already running into rough water. The Congress Opposition is evidently determined to make it the most difficult of all Mr Vajpayee’s missions aimed to improve _relations with India’s neighbours. As for General Zia’s return visit to Delhi, mentioned when Mr Vajpayee was in Islamabad in the spring, nothing is heard of that now. Mr Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister, yesterday gave an assurance to the Opposition that any aggression on Indian territory would be “fully met”. Congress members had raised the issue of some balloons with Chinese propaganda material which had _ drifted over and come down on Indian soil. But these balloons, it turned out, were from Taiwan with the propaganda directed against Peking. Indian newspapers are giving a sinister meaning to stories of alleged Chinese assistance for Pakistan’s nuclear programme. The Congress offensive is not ill-timed as Indian official circles are worried that, after the Soviet Union has enhanced its influence in the region through the coup in. Afghanistan, the Chinese have moved closer to their ally, Pakistan. Mr Cronje said he expected the turnout to be more than 60 per cent. According to political sources here this is the figure that Britain and the United States have both said would be considered adequate in terms of assessing the election as a test of political opinion. Asserting that Rhodesia faced the “greatest challenge this country has ever faced, Mr Cronje said: “If the election is free and fair and impartial, obviously the British Government will have to accept it whether they like it or not.’—Agence France-Presse and Reuter. Our Salisbury Correspondent writes: Mr Pieter van der Byl, the co-Minister of Foreign Affairs, today denied British press reports that Rhodesia was on the verge of collapse economically or militarily, “ Just a glance at our recent budget will show that our economy is basically sound and, on the military front, we are more than holding our own”, “For example, last weekend alone, 135 Patriotic Front terrorists were killed with minimum losses to our security forces. The ceasefire, although it got off to a slow start, is now making progress.” 35 tanks. He said the Syrians had brought fresh arms into the heart of Christian east Beirut and that they had been firing 240mm mortars, the biggest in their Soviet-supplied arsenal. Militia men in Hadath said today that despite the siege they had brought reinforcements through the Syrian lines during the night. Rightists in other Christian districts of east Beirut are on a war footing. Residents reported shelling in the Hadath area late. this afternoon as the Cabinet met to discuss the crisis, but the Prime Minister had no firm prospects of peace to offer afterwards. Daily contacts at the highest political and military levels have so far failed to stop fighting.—Reuter. uncovered in Nile Delta From Our Own Correspondent Cairo, July 26 The semi-official press in Cairo reported today that an underground cell from a banned Egyptian communist organization had been uncovered in the northern Nile Delta region of Gharbia earlier this week, and a number of arrests made. According to the reports, the seven-strong cell was led by a local pharmacist and had a large quantity of Soviet made ammunition and handwritten leaflets urging the overthrow of President Sadat’s regime. An official source was quoted as saying that investigations had proved that the cell’s objective was “to raise controversy and dissension” among the citizens and install a Marxist regime similar to that in South Yemen. The investigation in Gharbia, carried out with the aid of bugging equipment planted in the pharmacist’s shop, follows the jailing of six members of the banned Egyptian Communist Workers’ Party by the military high court earlier this month, The controversial trial ended with seven of the 16 accused being acquitted for lack of evidence. Declaring itself incompetent to deal with the other three, the court ordered the dissolution of the organization and the seizure of its property and literature. Press controller appointed by Islamabad From Our Corresponden Islamabad, July 26, Pakistan’s military Government, locked in a new struggle with journalists and print workers over press freedom, has appointed a former newspaperman head of the National Press Trust, the newspaper controlling body. Shaik Aftab Ahmad, former chief executive of The Pakistan Times, replaces Mr Jamil Uz-Zaman, a government official. About 30 journalists and print workers have been arrested in a new series of hunger strike protests in Karachi since July 18. ' THE TIMES THURSDAY JULY 27 1978 Israeli mission is ordered out of Egypt Cairo, July 26 The latest moves towards a Middle East peace settlement’ agreement received a severe setback tonight when the Egyptian Government ordered the Israeli military liaison committee stationed in Egypt for the. past six months to. leave tomorrow. The decision was taken at a meeting of ‘Egypt’s National Security Council, under the chairmanship of President Sadat, in Alexandria. Diplomats were surprised by the Egyptian move, which is considered to have seriously worsened the chances of direct negotiations between Egypt end Israel being resumed next month, as the United States hopes. The expulsion Is seen as an intensification of the uncompromising stance adopted by Mr Sadat since the Egyptian-Israell talks in Britain last week. He is sticking firmly to his demand that the Israelis put forward “new elements” before Egypt will agree to further direct talks,. Although the Israeli military mission had not been involved in substantive talks since late January, shortly after its atrival, the committee’s token presence was seen as an act of faith on behalf of both governments that some momentum in the peace process was was being maintained, despite the breakdown of political negotiations. Tel Aviv: Mr Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister, said on television tonight that the expulsion was of “no great political or military importance”, and Israel would not insist on the mission remaining. _. An Israeli Defence Ministry source said an aircraft would be sent to Alexandria tomorrow to bring back the delegates. The mission was moved from Cairo to a military base at Alexandria three months ago, and has been kept under strict military security.. Message returned: _Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said in Jerusalem today that President Sadat had returned unopened a personal message from Mr Begin calling for further meetings between them, Mr Begin proposed new meetings either in Jerusalem and Cairo or in Haifa and Alexandria, or any other suitable place. In rejecting the message, a highly unusual diplomatic move, Egypt said that it contained nothing new.—Reuter. Michael Knipe writes from Jerusalem: As the Israeli Government defeated a no confidence motion in the Knesset over its handling of the Middle East peace negotiations today, Mr Roy Atherton, the United States special Middle East envoy, arrived here to discuss with Israeli leaders how best to continue the direct negotiations with Egypt. He will see Mr Begin and Mr Dayan before flying on the Egypt. Dancers can leave Damascus, July 26.—Miss Joan Kirk and Miss Dawn Molloy, two dancers from Liverpool, have been allowed to leave Syria after their 49day wait ended with an out-of-court settlement in a fraud case. Queen in Canada: The Queen inspects a guard of honour at St John’s, Newfoundland when she arriveda yesterday at the start of a 12-day tour of Canada during which she will cover more than 3,000 miles and open the Commonwealth Games in Edmonten, Alberta. The Queen’s tour coincides with a debate over her role as Canada’s head of state. Recent constitutional reforms proposed by Mr Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister, have been denounced by monarchists who say the Queen’s From Our Own Correspondent Washington, July 26 A former dealer in car spare parts has told congressional investigators that he was offered $50,000 (£26,000) by two Missouri businessmen to kill Dr Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader, not long before the assassination in April 1968. According to The New York Times, which has had a team of investigative reporters working on the allegation, Mr Russell Byers, now aged 46, refused the offer. In an interview with reporters he was unable to produce any documentary evidence for his story, but claimed that he had told others about the alleged plot some 10 years ago. A spokesman for a Senate subcommittee, which is investigating the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Dr King, refused to comment on the aliegations today. But it | Sudan seeks | aid for 500,000 |flood victims ; Nimeiry appealed today for ) internationa] aid to help more | than 500,000 people made home- | less in floods in Sudan, He } Summoned 30 Western envoys and heads of international relief agencies to make his appeal. In the past two days, Sudan has been deluged by two and a half times as much rain as has fallen in the desert nation in the past year, | _ President Nimeiry appealed for food, medicine, tents and transport. Diplomatic sources here said Sudan is very short of aviation fuel and petrol in the interior at the moment because floods have blocked the railway to the nation’s only port.—AP. be reduced there measures. Newfoundland, in 1949. is clear from the various interviews which The New York Times has conducted with several people involved with Mr Byers that committee invesuigators are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to discover the truth about the alleged offer. The committee is particularly interested in Mr Byers because his brother-in-law, Mr John Spica, was serving a murder sentence in a Missouri prison at the same time as James Earl Ray in the -late 1960s. Mr Ray, who initially confessed to the killing of Dr King but has since denied that he fired the fatal shot, is serving a 99-year prison sentence for the assassination. Since Dr King’s death, numerous conspiracy allegations have been made, but the latest claims are the first to establish any ‘links, however, tenuous, between an alleged plot to kill the civil rights Bandung, July 26—More than 8,000 political prisoners were released -hroughout Indonesia today, most of them communists jailed since an abortive coup in 1965. Some 4,000 prisoners were freed in Bandung, and the rest in other parts of the country. They were classified as “B” class prisoners who could not be tried as the Government had insufficient evidence for their alleged involvement in the coup attempt. The Government plans the release of 10,000 prisoners in the same category this year. The Government released 10,000 ““B~* class prisoners last year including 1,500 from the island of Buru, a remote area Attack on border village in Papua New Guinea causes embarrassment to Canberra Relations with Indonesia worsen From Our Correspondent Melbourne, July 26 Australia’s tangled relations with Indonesia have been exacerbated by the razing of a border village in Papua New Guinea, allegedly by Indonesian forces. Canberra, which _ granted Papua New Guinea full independence in 1975, is acutely embarrassed by the attack, the latest of several border incidents.. The Papua New Guinea Government in Port Moresby said Indonesian troops crossing from the province of Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea) were responsible. However, Major General Busyiri Surio Winoto, Jakarta’s Ambassador in Port Moresby, denied that there had been an attack by Indonesian ground forces. He said the Indonesian Air Force had dropped “ nonlethal”? plastic bombs close to the border in an attempt to flush out Irian Jaya rebels who had recently kidnapped a numer of senior Indonesian officials. In December, 1975, when Indonesia took over East Timor after the Portuguese left, Canberra felt obliged te make a mild protest, but was careful to avoid upsetting relations. The present situation promises to be more troubling and more prolonged than the anxiety over Timor. In Canberra, officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs have confirmed reports that Australia is bringing diplomatic pressure on Indonesia to scale down its operations on the Irian Jaya border. It is clear that while Mr Andrew Peacock, the Australian Foreign Minister, believes Indonesia has gone too far in its efferts to crack down on [rianese rebels, he is even more concerned with keeping the diplomatic relationship healthy. The situation is complicated by the fact that there is suspicion in Port Moresby that Indonesia has territorial designs on Papua New Guinea. The border incidents strengthen these fears. After the Timor affair, Indonesia took almost no notice of Canberra’s muted complaint. Australia was the only Western country to take any real interest in the takeover. This time, however, matters are different. Indonesia is at pains to avoid any conflict with the United States and the Carter Administration cautiously supports the Australian position. The United States is now much more interested in Indonesia, not only because of the Administration’s preoccupation with human rights, but also because it is a big arms supplier to Indonesia. The Americans are under: stood to be concerned that their OV 10 counter-insurgency aircraft are being used to clean out a small nest of guerrillas. Indonesia recently negotiated the purchase of a number of F5 fighter aircraft from the United States and it is conceivable that Congress could delay the sale. Mr Peacock is believed to have discussed this possibility recently with Senator Jolin Glenn, who was representing President Carter at the Solomon Islands’ independence celebrations. It seems likely that the combined diplomatic force of the United States and Australia should be enough to persuade Indonesia to scale down border operations. But there is increasing tension as more incidents occur each week. Sixth century BC treasure on display in Delphi From Mario Modiano Athens, July 26 A unique chryselephantine treasure from the sixth century BC, found by French archaeologists just before the outbreak of the Second World War, was put on display for the first time today in the museum of Delphi, near the spot where they were discovered some 40 years ago. The hoard includes two exceptionally beautiful heads of statues carved in ivory. They probably represent Apollo and Artemis. The god’s curly hair is made of gokd and he wears a headdress of long goldleaf bands on either side. The goddess wears a gold diadem. Fragments of at least three lifesize statues are exhibited. They include part of the goddess’s right arm and hand which probably held a sceptre, her ivory feet and a profusion of gold ornaments and jewelry including headbands, bracelets, earrings and a necklace. There is also the left foot of Apollo and fragments of the other. A gold belt and, above all, the gold trappings of his robe finely embossed with animal figures. He was clearly. seated on a throne. Parts of a third statue are on display. These are the only surviving specimens of chryselephantine sculpture discovered so far. They are enough to give a dim idea of the ‘splendour of the chryselephantine statutes of Athena in the Parthenon and of Zeus in Olympia, the works of Pheidias which have disappeared for ever. Another outstanding = discovery in the same hoard was a life size silver bull. It was made of hammered silver leaves that were nailed on a wooden frame which no longer exists. The animal’s hooves, horns and genitals are gold plated. The hoard was discovered by a team under M Pierre Amandry, Director of the French Archaeological School in Athens, in May 1939, just under the paving stones in front of the treasury of the Athenians in Dethpi. The archaeologists found-objects in ivory, gold, silver, bronze and iron dumped _together indiscriminately. They had clearly been damaged in a fire and probably discarded sometime in the fifth century This dating tends to dismiss the theory that these valuable objects had been offered to Delphi by Croesus, the King of Lydia famous for his wealth. Since these objects had been buried in the fifth century BC they could not have been among the treasures seen by Pausanias in Delphi in the second century AD, which he had ‘attributed to the generosity of Croesus. The sculptures are probably the work of artists from Asia Minor in the archaic and early classical periods sent to Delphi as votive offerings by city-states in that region. The new room at the Delphi museum, which is equippec with the latest security devices was inaugurated tonight by Mr George Plytas, the Minister of Culture. role, already purely ceremonial, would still further by the It is the Queen’s third visit to Canada in two years. During her tour she will visit mostly small communities in Newfoundland and in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. last visited by the Queen in 1959, is one of the most promonarchist regions of Canada, and insisted on keeping the Union Jack as its provincial flag when it joined Canada ‘York Times, for St become US Senate compromise blocks © moveforimmediateend of sanctions against Rhodesia as SS Mr Trudeau, who is on holiday, was not present for the Queen’s arrival. She was greeted by Mr Jules Leger, the Governor-General, and Mr Donald Jamieson, the External Affairs Minister, whe comes from Newfoundland. It was a day of unusual excitement John’s. In the morning two Britons took off from a baseball park * near the town centre in an attempt to the first men to cross the Atlantic by free-floating balloon. °$50,000 offer’ to kill Dr King leader and inmates of Missouri prison. One question being investigated by the Senate committee is whether Mr Ray, who escaped from prison nearly a year before Dr King’s assassination, received any help from those who might have been. willing to pay for his death. his testimony to the committee and later to The New Mr Byers was reported to have described a meeting with two Missouri businessmen, Mr John Kauffmann, a friend and business associate, and Mr John Sutherland, a lawyer. Mr Sutherland was alleged to have told him that a group of businessmen would pay $50,000 for the killing. Both men are now dead, bur their wives have rold The New about the alleged plot until they were contacted by Senate investigators earlier this year. J akarta releases 8,000 political prisoners about 1,800 miles north-east of | Jakarta. _ The prisoners were released simultaneously today in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Jakarta, the Lesser Sunda islands and Sulawesi. Colonel R. Sardjono of the Jakarta Military Command, speaking at the release ceremony, gave a warning of the danger of subversion by communists. He said they would always try to create disorder in society. Amnesty International, based in London, estimated in a recent report on Indonesia that the number of political prisoners detained since 1965 without evidence was close to 100,000.—Reuter, AP and UPI. York Times they knew nothing In brief Cruise missiles launch a flop San Diego, California, July 26.—The first public launching of the United States Navy’s cruise missile from a submarine yesterday was an embarrassing flop and two of the weapons crashed into the sea A spokesman said the missiles were not carrying warheads Mrs Shcharansky ill Chicago, July 26—Mrs Avita Shcharansky, the wife of the jailed Soviet dissident, has been ordered to rest here because she is suffering from extrenfatigue brought about by her campaign to enlist support for her husband. ‘ Bomb blast injures 50 Maputo, July 26—A bomb exploded in the centre of Maputo last night injuring about 50 people. Police said it was planted in a café on the main thoroughfare of the Mozambique capita], Storm hits Hongkong Hongkong, July 26.—At least | 54 people were reported injured today, most by flying objects, as winds reaching {107 mph from tropical storm | Agnes battered Hongkong. Moscow paper Moscow, July 26—The first issue of a new twice-weekly English-language newspaper for foreign tourists and businessmen was published yesterday by the Moscow News organization. China diamond find Peking, July 26—-A peasant girl weeding on her commune has found a 158.786-carat diamond, the largest ever discovered in China, ‘Doubts on Senate decision ‘in Greece and Turkey ‘ who - transport, From Mario Modiano Athens, July 26 The Greek Government today expressed its regret at the American Senate’s decision to lift the arms embargo on Turkey on condition thar progress was made _ towards solution of the Greek-Turkish dispute over Cyprus. An official statement said the Greek position on the embargo had been made clear by Mr Constantine Karamanlis, the Prime Minister, during his recent visit to the States. This position remained unchanged. It added: “We believe that the embargo is an internal affair of the United States, but its eventual repeal could have unfavourable repercussions on the evolution of the Cyprus issue as well as on other prob- Jems related to security and peace in the area, and these repercussions neither the United States Government nor Congress should disregard.” The result of the Senate vote Was expected in view of the extent of President Carter’s personal involvement in the campaign to end the ban. If the House of Representatives also endorses the move, American-Greek relations will probably be soured at all levels, but the drastic foreign policy shift demanded by the Opposition is unlikely. The Greek opposition parties feel the Senate vote, as well as United. the open support for the lifting of the embargo that came from Nato and the EEC, have vindicated its demand that the Government should repudiate its doctrine of “belonging to the West” Mr Andreas Papandreou, feader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, the main opposition party, said today: “The time has come for our country to adopt a new, Greek and independent foreign and defence policy.” It is clear that, before the voting in the House, the Greek Government is being cautious. Officials refuse to say what it will do if the House endorses the Senate decision. Our Ankara Correspondent writes: Mr Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish Prime Minister, said the decision had a number of positive aspects. It showed that the United States considered both its relations with Turkey and the embargo to be extremely important. By naming Greece as a party to the C¥prus affair, there was also the likelihood that Athens could be pushed into playing a More active role in solving the problem. Mr Suleyman Demirel, the main oppcsition leader, however, said the Senate vote showed that the United States had not modified its stand on the embargo. The condition im. pesed meant that the embargo would not be lifted. Swapo says two leaders detained in Namibia Lusaka, July 26.—Swapo, the main nationalist movement in Namibia (South-West Africa), said today that two of its leading members had been detained at Windhoek airport. Their detention could have serious repercussions on the _ latest Western peace moves in the territory, the organization said. Mr Peter Katjavivi, a Siwapo svokesman said in a statement that the leaders detained today were Mr Franz Kambangula, has responsibilitv for and Pastor Festus in charge of foreign Both men had been Naholo, relations. released by South African au*: orities earlier this month The detention of the two, an the Swapo statement wanother blow to Western effor:- to secure an independence settlement in Namibia, which is ruled by South Africa The reported arrests seem cettain to harden the lines between South Africa and Swapo and fuel the argument of those in Sivano who insis: that South Africa dees not want the Westerw settlement plan for Namibia, even though it has accepteg the package — Reuter, === [PDF page 2] === " Jakarta releases 8,000 political prisoners." Times, 27 July 1978, p. 6. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS102728443/ GDCS?u=columbiau&sid=bookmark-GDCS. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.