March-May 1977 PDF

Pakistan Institute of International Affairs
CHRONOLOGY March—May 1977

Source: Pakistan Horizon, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Second Quarter, 1977), pp. 63-161
Published by: Pakistan Institute of International Affairs
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41403892 .
Accessed: 21/06/2014 20:31
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Pakistan Institute of International Affairs is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Pakistan Horizon.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
CHRONOLOGY
March- May 1977
PAKISTAN
March 1: It was reportedthat in a messagesentto thePrimeMinisterof

Pakistan,ZulfikarAli Bhutto,theAfghanPresident,MohammadDaud had
sent on the occasion of the
thankedhim for his message of felicitations
adoption of the new AfghanConstitution, had expressedthe hope
and
that "in the atmosphere which has fortunatelycome into being, our
onlypoliticaldifference will find an honourable solution so thatwe
could live in peace and friendship".
At a press conferenceheld in Islamabad, Mr Aziz Ahmed, Pakistan's
Ministerof State for Defence and Foreign Affairs,issued a detailed
statementto prove that the PNA leader, Air Marshal (retd.) Asghar
Khan's assertionsabout the 1965war and his allegationsagainstPrime
MinisterBhuttowere "purefabrication".Mr Asghar Khan had alleged
that the Chinese Foreign Minister,Marshal Chen Yi, had informed
Mr Bhutto(who was thenForeignMinister)about the impendingIndian
attackin 1965, duringa stop-overin Karachi,but Mr Bhuttohad mis-
reportedthe meetingto PresidentAyub Khan.
Pakistan's Federal Ministerfor Production,Rafi Raza, told newsmen:
thata new refinery builtat a costRs. 62.5 croreand designedto produce
1.5 milliontons of various petroleumobjects had commencedtrial ope-
rations in Karachi; the refineryhad been completed with Romanian
assistancein 38 months;ithad increasedthe total refiningcapacityin the
countryby 50 per cent; with itsfull operation Pakistan would be able
to meet90 per cent of its requirements of refinedpetroleumproducts
and wpuldexportnaphthaand some surplusproducts.
Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner, Mr JusticeSajjad Ahmad .Tan,
said thattherewould be littlechanceof malpractice,corruptionor bungl-
ingin theforthcoming generalelectionsif thelaw ana thedirectivesof the
Commissionwerestrictly followedby theReturningOfficers.
63

It was reportedthat the visitingSaudi Arabianarmed forcesdelegation
had spenta busy day in Karachi yesterday,visitingvariousPakistanAir
Force units.
In an articlepublishedin the Soviet weeklyRubezhom,the Islamabad-
based Pravda correspondent,ArkadyMaulennikov praisedPrimeMinis-
ter Bhutto's land reformsand other measuresto boost agricultural
output,and "the dynamiccharacterof thepublicsector".
March 2: On his arrival in Karachi fromQuetta, duringhis election
tour of the country,Prime MinisterZ.A. Bhuttoled a mammothpro-
cession, lasting severalhours, from the Karachi airportto the Kakri
Ground whereit ended in a publicmeeting.
A Pakistan National Alliance(PNA) leader,ProfessorGhafoor Ahmad,
was reportedtohave sent a telegramto the ChiefElectionCommissioner
(CEC), which said that the PNA high command had decided to
requestthe CEC to invoke Article245 of the Constitution,to implore
the Presidentof Pakistan to call in the Army, to help the civil
administration
in ensuringpeacefulelections.
A Full Bench of the Lahore High Court acceptedthe writpetitionfiled
byMohammadAslam Saleemi,AssistantSecretaryGeneralof theOpposi-
tion Jamaat'i-IslamiParty,againstthe Pakistan Televisionand Pakistan
BroadcastingCorporation,and directed the respondentsto do what
theywere requiredto do bylaw, namelyto "maintainbalance" in the
news and otherprogrammesrelatingto the election campaignsof the
various politicalparties(includingthePNA), participatingin the forth-
comingelections.
It was reportedthatrepresentatives of the PakistanInternational
Airlines
(PIA) and theAfghanAriana Airlineshad signedan agreementin Kabul,
on theresumption of air servicesbetweenthetwo countries.
A Pakistan Ministryof ForeignAffairsannouncementsaid, that the
PakistanGovernmentwill contributeUS $ 10,000towardsthe expenses
of the next UN conferenceon decolonizationscheduledto be held in
Maputo, Mozambique, next April.
The Iranian newspaper,KayhanInternational
, reportedthatthe Regional
Cooperation for Development(RCD) had approved,in principle,a pro-
ject to a
complete railwaylink fromAnkara to Karachi, via Teheran.
The RCD committeeon transportand communications, whichrecently
metin Teheran,was informed thattheprojectedrailwaylinkwas expected
to be completedin threeyears.
64

March 3: Addressinga public meetingat Kakri Ground (Karachi),
Prime MinisterBhuttodeclaredthat Pakistan would have overcomethe
1971 crisiswhichresultedin the separationof East Pakistan,if theformer
President,Yahya Khan, had handed overpowerto a civiliangovernment
afterthe 1970 elections.He refutedthe Opposition allegation that he
(Bhutto) was instrumental in the separationof East Pakistanand said
that thetragedywas theresultof an international conspiracy.
March 4: The SupremeCourt of Pakistan modifiedthe recentlygiven

order of the Lahore High Court on the coverage of electionnews by the
Pakistan Broadcasting and TelevisionCorporations.The order came
as a resultof a petition filed before the Supreme Court by the two
Corporations.
The PNA leader, Air Marshal(retd.)AsgharKhan, told a press confer-

ence thatthe Governmenthad devised a methodof riggingthe polls on
7 March. He disclosedthedetailsof thealleged four-point
plan.
March 5 : Addressingwaysidepublic meetingswhile leading a big PPP
procession in Lahore, Prime MinisterBhutto predicteda thumping
victoryforhis partyin theforthcoming
generalelections.
A big procession led by the nominees of PNA for the National and
ProvincialAssemblies was taken out in Lahore today, which ended
in a public meeting.
The Pakistan Election Commissionissuedthe election procedures for

PresidingOfficers,AssistantPresidingOfficers,candidates, their elec-
tion agentsand voters.
In accordancewithSection84 of the Representationof the People's Act,

politicalcampaigningforelectionsconcludedat midnighttoday.
The PakistanFederal Governmentannouncedthat it would use all secu-
rityforcesavailable in aid of civil power,fromthe morningof 6 March
onwards,throughtheperiodof theelections.
The leader of the visiting5-memberPolishtrade delegation stated in
Karachi that Poland would like to set up joint ventureswith Pakistan
and was preparedto providetechnicalaid to Pakistan.
March 6: In an interviewwith the US, Newsand WorldReport, Prime

MinisterBhuttowas reportedto have said: Pakistan would be able to
produce its own fuel-fabrication
plant, in the next 10 years, even if
France does not deliver a nuclear reprocessingplant; a decision by
65

France, under US pressure,not to deliverthe plant would be a set-
back to Pakistan; Pakistan would like to have nuclear technology
"so that all options would be open to Pakistan, though we would
not exercisethemilitaryoption".
The Pakistan Chief Election Commissionersaid that the Pakistan Elec-

tion Commission would set up election Tribunals soon after the
conclusionof the polls on 10 March; the tribunalswould deal with
electionpetitionswhichmightbe filedbyaggrievedparties.
The SecretaryGeneralof the PakistanNational Alliance,RafiquéBajwa,

demandedthatpollingstationsshould be underthe controlof the Army
and not of the Federal SecurityForce (FSF), which,he alleged, had
taken "an oath of loyalty"to Prime MinisterBhuttoand his Govern-
mentand could not, therefore,be expectedto remainneutralinthe elec-
tions.
March 7: General electionsfor the National Assemblyseats were held

in Pakistantoday.This was the second generalelectionto be held in 30
yearson thebasis of directadultfranchise.
A Federal Government statement announced, that in incidents of
breachof law and order in different
parts in the countryduringvoting
in the generalelectionson 7 March 1977, 8 persons had been killed
and 130 othershad been injured.
A pressnote issuedby the DistrictMagistrateof Sukkurdisclosed:that

firingincidentshad occurredtodayin some areasof Sukkurtownbetween
rival parties,which resultedin casualties; patrollingby law-enforcing
agencieswas continuing ; no complaintsof anybunglingin the elections
had been received. The PNA oppositionleaders, however,alleged (in
press statements)that the rulingPPP partyworkershad used violence
and had violatedelectionlaws; that these mattershad been broughtto
the notice of the local administration
and theElection Commissionon
telephone,but to no effect;the PNA, therefore, had no alternativebut
to boycottthepollingin Sukkur.
Mr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Federal Minister and Chairman, PPP

ElectionCommittee, Karachi, in a telegramto the Election Commission,
alleged that PNA workers had indulgedin acts of violence in different
polling stationsin Karachi.
March 8: Accordingto the final unofficialNationalAssemblygeneral

electionsresults,thePPP led by PrimeMinisterBhuttohad beenreturned
66

to power by the electorate,for a secondterm,with greatlyincreased
strength-155 seats in a House of 200 seats.The PNA secured 36 seats,
independents8, and a solitaryseat was won by the Pakistan Muslim
League (Qayyum group). Sixteen seats- 10 reservedfor women and 6
- would be filledlater.
for the minorities
The daily Dawn, Karachi, reportedthat by midnightof 7 March, the

rulingPakistan People's Party(PPP) had won "a clear and impressive"
majorityin the general elections to the PakistanNational Assembly.
Accordingto unofficialresults,out of 180general seats, for which the
contestwas held,thePPP had a big lead over the Oppositionin 100 seats.
While addressinga press conference, Prime MinisterBhutto denied the

Oppositionparty, PNA's allegationthat the National Assemblyelections
had been riggedand said thatit was a genuinelandslidevictoryfor the
rulingPakistanPeople's Party. He said thatiftheOppositionleaderstook
thelaw in theirhands,triedto subverttheConstitution, and createdagita-
tion,the Government was quite capable of dealingwiththe situation.
-
At a press conferenceheld in Rawalpindi,the Presidentof the Tehrik-i
TstiqlalAsgharKhan, accused the Governmentof "rigging"theelections,
and announcedthatthePNA would boycottthe 10 March electionsto the
ProvincialAssemblies.Similar statementswere also made by the PNA
Chief, Maulana Mufti Mahmud, and leaders of the other component
partiesof thePNA.
The PushtoonkhawaNAP Chief,Mahammad Achakzai, announcedthat
his partyhad decided to boycottProvincialAssemblyelections,on 10
in the
and irregularities
March, as a protestagainstofficialinterference
NA-195 Quetta-II constituencyfrom where he had contestedelections
againstthePPP candidate,Attorney-General Yahya Bakhtiar.
PrimeMinister Bhutto told a press conferencethat Pakistanwould

continuethe policy of normalisation with India and improvingof
relationswith Afghanistan;Pakistan would like to have a "bonafide,
genuine discussion" with the US on their objections to the
Pakistan-Franceagreementfor the purchase of a nuclear reprocessing
plant.
March 9: In a statementissued today, Prime MinisterBhuttoappealed
to the mass of the electorateto exercise theirfundamentalrightto vote
in the 10 March ProvincialAssemblies'elections.
issued by thePNA SecretaryGeneral,aftera PNA Centrál

In a statement
Council meetingheld in Lahore, it was announcedthat since the Council
67

did not regard the National Assemblybeing constitutedas a resultof
the 7 March electionsas a legal and constitutional body, it had rejected
the elections.The Council also demanded the resignationof the Chief
Commissioner(in view of his failureto conductfairand impartialelec-
tions); called upon the people to stage a peacefulcountry-wide strikeon
11 March; and decided that PNA nominees, declared electedto the
National Assembly,would submittheirresignations.
It was reportedthatmessagesof felicitátions had been receivedby Prime
MinisterBhuttofroma numberof foreignleaders,congratulating him on
the PakistanPeople's Party's success in the7 March elections.Messages
werereceivedfromheads of state and government of Iran,Libya,Ghana,
India, Philippinesand Bangladesh.
The Presidentof the QayyumMuslim League (QML), Abdul Qayyum
Khan, announcedthat his party(not a member of PNA) had decided
to boycott the 10 March Provincial Assembly elections. He alleged
that therehad been riggingof the 7 March elections; cited cases of
malpractices;and statedthat representationsmade to the ElectionCom-
missionauthoritieshad elicitedno response.
March 10: Electionswereheld throughout Pakistantoday(second phase

of the polls) forthe 460 seats of the four ProvincialAssemblies(Punjab
240, Sind 100, NWFP 80, Baluchistan40). The oppositionparties- the
PNA, QML, Pashtoonkhawa NAP - and some independents, boycotted
the polls on the plea that the 7 March elections(firstphase) had been
rigged.
It was reportedthat, accordingto the unofficialProvincialAssemblies
election results,the rulingPakistan People's Party (PPP) had won an
overwhelming majorityin theProvincialAssembliesof the Punjab, Sind,
North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and Baluchistan.However,
because of the boycottof the electionsby the oppositiontherewas a
poor turn-outof votersthroughout Pakistan.
The Federal Education Minister,Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, appealed to the
people of Pakistan to "thwartwithfirmnessthe treacherouscall forthe
strike"givenby the Oppositionparties.He was referring to the Opposi-
tion's appeal for a peacefulcountry-wide hartal(strike),to be held on
firstFridayfollowingthegeneralelections.
Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the PNA leader, Professor

Abdul GhafoorAhmad said: freshelectionsshould be held in Pakistan
underthe directsupervisionof the Army,witha care-takergovernment
6$

in office;this was the only solutionto the seriouscrisis the countrywas
facing;the PNA was readyto participatein freshelections(subjectto the
pre-conditions),withoutdemandingany timeforfreshcampaigning.
March 11:' It was reportedthat the rulingPPP had won 435 out of the
460 seats of the four ProvincialAssembliesin the 10 March elections;
resultsfrom7 constituencieswereawaited; 16 seats wentto Independents
and 2 to the QML.
Accordingto an officialpress note issued in Karachi, 200 personshad

been arrestedby the law-enforcing agenciesfor violatingthe law in the
city.The daily Dawn reportedthatthe main shoppingcentresin Karachi
had been closed due to the strikecalled by the PNA, to protestagainst
theelectionresults.The Armyand Police werealso patrollingthe railway
linesafterattemptsto put barricadeson thetracks.
The dailyDawn reportedthatthe call fora strikegivenby the opposition

Pakistan National Alliance, to protestagainst elections, had evoked a
limitedresponsein severalcitiesin Pakistan.
Pressnotesissued by the Governmentsaid that,as a resultof processions

taken out by the PNA in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi,Peshawar and
other cities in Pakistan,in defianceof Governmentorders (in support
of the generalstrikecalled by the Oppositionto protestagainstthe elec-
tions), a number of clashes had occurred between the demonstrators
and thepolice,but law and orderhad been restoredlater.
March 12: In a radio-TV broadcast, Prime Minister Bhutto said that

the National Assemblyelectionsof 7 March were a settledmatterand
could not be held again, but he was preparedto hold a dialoguewiththe
leaders of the Oppositionparty,the PNA, on "other things". He also
warned the Opposition against adopting the path of agitation which
wouldbe againsttheinterest of thenationand thecountry.
At a press conferenceheld in Lahore, the PNA Chief, Maulana Mufti

Mahmud, announcedthe followingdemands/decisions of the Alliance:
Prime MinisterBhutto and the membersof the Election Commission
shouldresignforthwith,and a reconstitutedElectionCommission should
arrange freeand impartialpolls withthe help of thejudiciaryand Army;
if the demands were not accepted, the PNA will organize protestpro-
cessions from 14 March which would continueuntil the acceptance of
the demands. He ruledout the possibilityof a dialogue with Mr Bhutto,
but said thatthe PNA could enterinto negotiations;he also alleged that
a largenumberof personshad been arrestedthroughout the country.
&

The Pakistan ChiefElection Commissionertold a press conference,that
the Commissionwill hold suo moto inquiryin primafacie cases, and
would set up Tribunalsto hearelectionspetitionsneedingdetailedinquiry,
immediatelyafter the officialresultswere announced. This would be
done to remedythe situationcaused by the spate of complaintswhich
have inundated the Election Commission alleging irregularities, fraud
and lawlessness,duringthe National Assemblyelections.
In Teheran,Foreign Ministersof Iran, Pakistan and Turkeysignedthe

Treatyof Izmir,to invigoratethe Regional CooperationforDevelopment
(RCD). The treatyconfersinternational legal statuson the organization;
of an investmentand developmentbank; an
calls for the establishment
instituteof science and technologyin Iran; a school of economic and
sciencefoundationin Pakistan; a tourismand hotel managementschool
in Turkey; and a youthfoundation.The threememberstates also aim
to developtheRCD regionintoa freetradezone in 10 years.
The Soviet daily Pravda, quotingthe Tass correspondentin Islamabad,

wrotethat the PNA, whichsecuredonly 36 seats in the electionsto the
200-memberPakistan National Assembly,had "failed to present any
social and economic programmein the country."The newspaperalso
hated the PPP's victoryin theelections.
March 13: PNA leader, Air Marshal (retd.) Asghar Khan, announced
at a press conferencein Lahore, that PNA oppositionleaders wil1stage
demonstrations in citiesthroughoutPakistan beginningfrom tomorrow
and would defySection144 imposedby the Government. He added: "We
have no intentionof takingout any procession, nor do we propose to
give the demonstration a violentturn"; the objectivewas to registerthe
during the recent polls and
Opposition's protest against irregularities1
the curbs on fundamentalrights;demonstrations would be held untilthe
demandsof the PNA were accepted.
A delegation of the BritishParliamentarySelect Committeeon Race
Relations and Immigration,headed by Fredrik Willey, arrived in
Islamabad, on a four-dayvisitto Pakistan.
March 14: The Karachi High Court Bar Association adopted a resolu-
lution demandingjudicial enquiry,into "malpractices"in the elections
and "attackson thePNA candidates,theirpolling agentsand workers."
A press note issued by theCommissionerof Karachi said, thatthe police
had to use tear gas to dispersea crowdof "agitatators"who had gathered
as a result of the PNA call for a meeting/procession. The police had
arrestedabout 100 demonstrators.
70

Accordingto reports,in several Pakistanicities,the Pakistan National
Alliance (PNA) leaders and workersviolated restrictions
on processions
and public meetings(imposed by the Governmentunder Section 144),
and held demonstrationsto protestagainst elections malpractices.Al-
though the situationremainedpeaceful in some cities, violent clashes
took place betweenthe police and demonstrators in Lyallpurand some
othercities.
The PNA Chief, Mufti Mahmud, said that he had recievedPrime

MinisterBhutto's lettertoday and had sent his reply to the letter.He
reiteratedhis "pledge" to launch the "movementas scheduled" for the
acceptance of PNA demands;expressedhis "grave concern" over fre-
quent use of violenceagainstthe Opposition,and said that it would be
"disastrousforthe countryif theGovernmentdid not stop mass arrests,
tear gas and lathi charge".
Addressing a press conference,PNA leaders- Sherbaz Khan Mazari,

GhafoorAhmad,Shah FaridulHaq- said that69 membersof thevarious
componentsof PNA had been arrestedin Karachi today. Opposition
leadershad also beenarrestedin othercitiesof Pakistan.
Under an agreementsignedin Islamabad, the NetherlandsGovernment

grantedfinancialassistanceto Pakistan(withinthe frameworkof Aid-to-
Pakistan Consortium),worthDFL 58 millionfor the year 1977-78for
financingPakistan'sdevelopmentprogramme.
March 15: The CentralCouncil of the PNA accepted the resignationof
Rafique Bajwa fromthe officeof the SecretaryGeneral of the Alliance.
He was also expelledfromtheJamiat-i-UIema-i-
Pakistan(JUP) ofwhichhe
was the Vice-President.In a resolutionadopted at a meetingheld in
Lahore, the Council maintainedthat Mr Bajwa's reportedmeetingwith
PrimeMinisterBhutto,on 13 March-, was againstthepolicyof theAlliance
and a conspiracyagainstthePNA.
Accordingto reports,a numberof processionsana demonstrations were

organizedby the PNA in severalcitiesthroughoutthe country(Karachi,
Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi,etc.), in defiance of the Governmentban
on public meeting,to protestagainst the election results.As a result
clashes occurred between the demonstratorsand the police, several
people wereinjuredand arrested.
The Fédéral Education Minister, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada said that the
Opposition'sdemand forfreshgeneralelectionsunder a new government
was not onlyunrealisticbut also unconstitutional.
He explained thatthe
71

Constitution and evenifa sittingPremierresigned,
guaranteedcontinuity,
he would continueto hold officeuntilthe new leader of the House had
been elected.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association,in a resolutionadopted at an

emergencymeeting,expressedthe opinion thatthe impositionof Section
144 for banningpublic meetingsand processions,by the Federal and
ProvincialGovernments,was against the provisionsof law and without
jurisdiction.
March 16: The PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud, told newsmenat
Lahore that: the PNA Central Council had discussedthe second letter
of thePrimeMinistersentto himtoday; Mr Bhutto(in his letter)had con-
veyedhis willingnessto discussall the issues withinthe framework
of the
but freshelectionscould not be held because the Constitu-
Constitution,
tion had to be amended for this purpose. Mufti Mahmud, maintained
that "rigging"of the National Assemblypolls was the only issue- all
otherthingsemanatedfromthat,such as boycottof the provincialpolls,
nation-widestrike,and the demonstration.
According to reports,PNA protest rallies were organized in several

citiesthroughoutPakistan(Peshawar,Hyderabad,Sargodha, Gujranwala,
RahimyarKhan, Rawalpindi,Multan,Karachi, Quetta, Isa Khuil, etc).
Clashes took place betweenthe police and demonstratorsand several
Oppositionleaderswerealso arrested.
Accordingto reports,on the thirdconsecutiveday of PNA's campaign
to defySection144,7 personswereinjuredwhenthepolice openedfireon
demonstrátors near Nila Gumbad mosque in Lahore. PNA leaders were
also arrested.
ProfessorGhafoorAhmad,a Jamaat-i-Islami leader,was electedSecretary

Generalof the PakistanNational Alliancein place of RafiqueBajwa who
had resignedearlier.
Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the PNA SecretaryGeneral

said: the recentpolls amounted to an organizedconspiracyto deprive
the people of theirrights;the PNA stoodforfreeand fairelectionsand
would continue its peaceful struggle.He alleged that although the
Governmentwas talkingof negotiation,it was using forceto suppress
the Opposition.
It was reportedthat the election authoritieshad sealed the record of

National Assemblyconstituency numberNA-57 (fromwherethe Federal
72

Minister,Chaudhri Hafeezullah Cheema was declared unopposed on
the basis of unofficialcounting),and had sent it to the Election Com-
mission. Meanwhile, under directionsof theCommission,a case was
registeredfor alleged violationof provisionsof the People's Representa-
tiveAct in thisconstituency, and the CommissionsummonedtheFederal
Ministerto appear beforeit on 22 March.
In separatepress statements,
PNA leadersin Karachi deploredthe arrests
of Allianceleadersand innocentpersonsby the police on variouscharges;
said that this would aggravatetension and demanded theirimmediate
release. They also welcomed the resolutionpassed by the various bar
associations"in supportof freshelectionsunder a neutral government."
At the United Nations World WaterConference(UNWC) held at Mar
del Plata (Argentina),Pakistan suggestedthat an internationalwater
fund may be created throughvoluntarycontributions,for financing
waterdevelopmentprogrammesin the developingcountries.
March 17: It was officiallyannounced in Rawalpindi that thePresident
had summonedthenewly-elected National Assemblyto meeton 26 March
1977.
Addressingthe Lahore High Court Bar Association,PNA leader, Air
Marshal (retired)Asghar Khan said: the question of compromiseor
negotiationswith Prime MinisterBhutto did notarise; the "riggingin
electionswas so extensive"thataccedinga fewseats hereor therecould
be no solution; PNA had launched the currentmovement as a last
resortand it will be peaceful; the use of violenceby the Government
on supportersof the movementwas deplorable.
The PNA Chief,Mufti Mahmud, said that the replyto Prime Minister
Bhutto'sletterwould be deliveredsometimetomorrow.
In a press statement,the FederalMinisterof Informationand Broadcast-
ing deploredthe Opposition'srejectionof Prime MinisterBhutto'soffer
of a dialogue and appealed to the Oppositionparties to abandon the
unconstitutionaland illegalpath theywerefollowing.
"Self-Determination Day" was observedthroughoutAzad Kashmir and
Pakistanby the Kashmiris,who declaredthat theywould continuetheir
effortsto achieve the national objectiveof the accession of the State of
Jammuand Kashmirto Pakistan.
An officialPakistan trade delegationleft for the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, to explore the possibilitiesof furtherexpansionof
trade betweenthe two countries.
73

It was reported,that Pakistanhad contributed$ 3,000 towardsthe cost
of the UN Peace-KeepingForce in Cyprus(UNFICYP) forthe six month
period ending15 December 1976.
March 18: The Presidentof Pakistanpromulgatedan Ordinance,which

withdrewthe National and Provincial Assembly members'exemption
fromattendancebeforeelectiontribunalsand civilrevenuecourts,during
thesessionsof theirrespectiveAssembliesand theprecedingand following
fortnights.
The Governmentof Pakistan announcedthat it had arrestedsix PNA
Oppositionleaders,on chargesof creating"lawlessness"in the country
activities".Those arrestedwere: Shah Ahmad
by their"unconstitutional
Noorani, Mahmud Azam Farooqi, Air Marshal (retd.) Asghar Khan,
Mir Ali Ahmad Talpur,Sher Baz Mazari and Mian Mahmud Ali Ka suri.
Addressinga congregationat a local mosque beforeleading a protest

procession,the PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud,said: PrimeMinis-
ter Bhuttowas not preparedto discuss the basic issues involvedin the
currentpolitical confrontation;the large-scale arrests of Opposition
leaders could not be conduciveto the holdingof political negotiations;
the Oppositionwould continueits presentmovementpeacefullyto a suc-
cessfulconclusion.
Addressinga press conference,SecretaryGeneral of the PNA, Ghafoor

Ahmed, maintainedthat all the demands of the PNA were permissible
under the Constitutionand could be acceptedwithoutany amendment
in the Constitution.
Accordingto a press note issued by theGovernmentof Sind, demons-

trationsin violationof Section144 were held in Karachi and Hyderabad
resultingin clashes betweenthe police and demonstrators;one person
died and severalwereinjured;a numberof people werealso arrested.
A peacefulprotestrally,whichdemandedthe liftingof Section 144, was

organizedby overa 100 lawyersin thecityof Multan.
Accordingto a press note issued by the Punjab Government,in several

citiesof the province,the police had to resortto lathi-chargeand teargas
to dispersecrowdsviolatingSection 144; a numberof arrestswere also
made. The NWFP Governmentalso reportedthat demonstrations had
been held in severalcitiesof theprovince.
It was reportedthat Prime MinisterBhutto had thankeda numberof
74

heads of state and governmentwho had senthim messages of greetings
on thesuccessof thePPP in the7 Marchelections.
A militarydelegationfrom Sri Lanka arrived on a goodwill visit to

Pakistan.
A Foreign Officespokesmanexpressedgriefand regretof the Pakistan

Governmentat the assassinationof the Lebanese Leftistleader, Kamal
Jumblatt.
March 19: Following violent demonstrations,curfew was imposed in

to
Karachi and the Armywas called in to assist thecivil administration
restorelaw and orderin thecity.
Accordingto reports,on the sixth day of the country-wideagitation

againstthe Government,PNA processionsand meetingswereorganized
in severalcitiesof Pakistan(in violationof Section144); clashes between
the police and demonstratorstook place and a numberof Opposition
leaderswerearrested.
Addressinga press conference,Pakistan's Federal Education Minister,

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada said that the PNA' s demandswere "totally un-
constitutional"and its leaders were tryingto mislead the nation. He
added, that the doors for talks withthe Oppositionwere still open, but
withinthe constitutionalframework.
The PNA Chief,Maulana Mufti Mahmud said: the projectedNational

Assemblysession was unconstitutional;negotiationswiththe Govern-
menton thepoliticalsituationwere"simplyout of thequestion"; complete
peace would prevail in the countryif the Governmentdesisted from
violence.
The Vice-President of the PNA, N^wabzada Nasrullah Khan, demanded

thatthe decisionto convenethe National Assemblyshould be withdrawn
and the notification regardingthe officialresultsof the electionsshould
be witheld.He maintainedthat these steps of the Governmentwere not
only against the popular wishes,but amountedto "declarationof war
against the people".
In a statementissued in Peshawar, Maulana Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi,
Presidentof the JUI (Hazarvi Group), criticisedthe PNA leadership
forturningdown PrimeMinisterBhutto'sinvitationfornegotiations.
March 20: A Sind Governmentpress note said: processionshad been

takenout in Hyderabadand Nawabshahcitiesin violationof Section144,
75

whichresultedin violentclashes,police firingand injuriesto a numberof
persons(demonstrators as well as thepolice). PNA leaders,on the other
hand, blamed the Sind Governmentfor the incidentsand claimed that
morepersonshad died and wereinjuredbythepolicefiring thanthefigures
givenby the Government.
It was reportedthat demonstrations organizedby the PNA in defiance
of Section 144 had takenplace in Lahore, Multan,Gujranwalaand other
citiesof Punjab Province,whichresultedin violentclashes betweenthe
police and demonstrators. The police also arresteda numberof PNA
leaderswho had courtedarrest.
The PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud, said: the PNA would not

attendthe National Assemblybecause the Oppositionrefusedto concede
the constitutionalproprietyof the recentelections; the PNA would go
ahead withits peacefulprotestmovementdespitethe arrestof its leaders
and other provocations.He also deprecatedthe "attempt to terrorise
themasseswho are fighting rights,"and thedenial
fortheirconstitutional
of all opportunitiesto the Oppositionto place its viewpointbeforethe
public.
The Pakistan Governmentannounced that, as a consequence of the
PNA
correspondenceexchanged between the Prime Ministerand the
President(textswere releasedto the press),four prominentPNA leaders
- Sherbaz Mazari, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Air Marshal (retd.)
to enable
AsgharKhan, ProfessorGhafoorAhmad- werebeingreleased,
themto attendthePNA meetingbeingconvenedat Lahore tomorrow.
Pakistan'sMinisterof State forForeignAffairs,
In a televisedinterview,
Aziz Ahmed,said that the Izmir Treaty,signedby Pakistan,Turkeyand
Iran on 12 March,providedthebasis for realisingthe originalobjectives
of the RCD in concreteterms.
The Chief of the Army Staff of the Nepal Army, General Guna
ShumsherJ.B. Rana, arrivedin Lahore on an officialvisitto Pakistan.
Prime
March 21: A Presidential Ordinance (on the advice of the
the Pakistan Election Com-
Minister)was issued today,which invested
election
missionwithpowersto hold a summaryinquiryinto a contested
in any constituencyand annul the election, if the Commission was
satisfiedon valid proofthatsuchan electionwas vitiatedby graveillegali-
ties. The order was promulgated in response to a request addressed to
in his letterof
thePrimeMinisterby the Chief Election Commissioner,
19 March 1977.
76 -

In a pressreleaseissued today,thePakistanElectionCommissionnotified
the resultsof the generalelection,held recently,
and issued a list of the
namesof thecandidatesreturnedto theNational Assembly.
Aftertheirreleasefromjail, PNA leadersMaulana Shah Ahmad N00 rani
and Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari disclosedat a press conferencein
Karachi, that over 10,000PNA workershad been arrestedfromall over
Pakistan, during the PNA movement to press the demandsforfresh
elections.
The PNA issued the firstinstalmentof a White Paper dealing with
serious "irregularitiesand malpractices that were responsible for
riggingthe electionsto the National Assembly"held on 7 March 1977.
Lt.-GeneralMohammad Aly Fahmy,the Chief of Staffof the Egyptian
Army,arrivedin Rawalpindion a goodwillvisitto Pakistan.
A militarydelegationof the People's LiberationArmyfromthe People's
Republicof China arrivedin Rawalpindi on a goodwillvisit to Pakistan.
In a message issued on the "InternationalDay for the Eliminationof
Racial Discrimination", Prime MinisterBhutto reiterated Pakistan's
determinationto workactively,in solidarity
withtheliberationmovements
and the "front-line"
Africanstates,forthe liberationof SouthernAfrica.
March 22: It was reportedthat,as indicatedin the latest World Bank
Atlas,the average growthrate in Pakistan at 3.4 percent,during1960-64
and at 2.5 per cent during1965-74,was betterthan the performance of
some 50 othercountriesin theworld.
In a congratulatory
messageto Yasser Arafat,on his re-electionas Chair-
man of the Palestine Liberation Organization(PLO), Prime Minister
Bhutto assured the Palestinianleader that the people ánd Government
of Pakistan would continueto stand "shoulder to shoulder" with their
Palestinianbrethren.
It was reportedthatthe PNA had takenout processionsin various
parts
of the countryincludingKarachi, Lahore and Multan in defianceof
Section'144, which resultedin clashes betweenthe demonstratorsand
police,and thearrestof PNA leaders.
It was reportedthat a Division Bench of the Lahore High Court had
heard the writ petitionchallengingthe detentionof the PNA leaders,
AsgharKhan, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri and 6 others.
The PakistanElectionCommissiontook up a numberof cases regarding
electionmalpractices,includingthe complaint against Federal Minister,
ChaudriHafeezullahCheema.
77

It was reportedthat Ulemaof variousschoolsof thoughthad takenout a
procession in Rawalpindi calling for the enforcementof "Nizam-e-
Mustafa"in thecountry.
March 23: In a messageto thenationoritheoccasion of "PakistanDay",

PrimeMinisterBhuttocalled upon the nationto "forgetour differences".
He stated: "It is only throughdialogue that riftscan be closed in the
nationspoliticalfabric".
In a letteraddressedto the Presidentof Pakistan (released to the press
today),the PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud, called upon the Presi-
dent to exercise his inherentconstitutionalpowers and "order general
elections under an impartial administrationand throughan Election
Commissionthathas the capabilityand authorityto ensurehonesty,jus-
tice and fairnessin thoseelections"; said thatthiswas theonlycourseleft
to preserve,protectand defendthe Constitution;levelled serious charges
againstPrime MinisterBhutto's Government;declaredthat Mr Bhutto
had lost all constitutional
rightsto continuein theofficeof PrimeMinister
from6 March 1977.
Addressinga gatheringbeforehis arrestin the Nila Gumbad Mosque

at Lahore, the PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud, said: the political
struggleagainsttheGovernment had now been convertedintoan ideologi-
cal one; Pakistanhad come into existencein the name of Islam and the
PNA was workingforthe enforcement of the Islamic system;the PPP's
principie"Socialism is our economy",was againsttheIslamic ideology.
Addressinga JointServices"Pakistan Day" parade in Rawalpindi,Presi-
dent Fazal Elahi Chaudhrideclared that the Governmentwas making
efforts changesin the defenceorganization,
to bringabout revolutionary
and to supplythearmedforceswithmodernand sophisticatedweapons.
March 24: The PakistanElection Commissionnotifiedthe names of the

candidatesreturnedto the four provincialAssembliesof Punjab, Sind
NWFP and Baluchistan.
In a resolutionadopted afterits generalbody meeting,the Karachi Bar
Associationdemandedthe liftingof the emergency;repeal of restrictive
press law; the restorationof fundamentalrights;repeal of the Defence
of Pakistan Rules (DPR); restorationof constitutionalpowers of the
superiorcourts;releaseof all politicaldetenues;and equal timeon Radio
and TV forthe Opposition.
In his replyto the Pakistan PrimeMinister'sletter(the text of thereply
was releasedat a press conference
on the conclusionof the PNA General
78

Council meeting),the PNA leader, Maulana Mufti Mahmud, reiterated
his Party's 12 March stand: that a dialogue would be enteredinto with
Mr Z. A. Bhuttoafterhis resignationfromthe officeof Prime Minister;
the constitutionof a new Election Commissionenjoyingconfidenceof
of the people; and the holdingof freshelectionswith the assistanceof
the judiciaryand the armed forces.He also levelled various chargesat
Mr Bhutto's Government.
In a press statementthe Sind Chief Minister,Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi,

disclosedthat the law-enforcingagencieshid been givenordersto shoot
saboteursand arsonistsat sight.
Chairman of the PetroleumCommissionand Federal Secretaryof the

PetroleumDivision, Dr. Shahzad Sadiq, disclosed that Pakistan could
in its oil requirements,
become self-sufficient withina period of 3 to 4
if
years, theGovernment investeda sum of Rs. 3,000 milionto thatend.
March 25: It was reportedthat approximately1,000 lawyershad taken

out a processionin Lahore to registertheirprotestagainstthe "riggingof
elections"and the curbs on civil liberties.
In a statement,rejectingthe Rawalpindi Bar Association President's
strikecall for 26 March, 76 membersof the Association condemned:
"the role of agitationalpoliticsadoptedbycertainpoliticiansin Pakistan".
It was reportedthatin severalcitiesof Pakistan(includingLahore,Quetta,
Multan, Peshawar), PNA processionshad been taken out in defiance
of Section 144,whichresultedin clashes withthe police,death and injur-
ies; the armywas called in to assist and maintainlaw and orderin Multan
and Lahore; a PNA procession of womenwas taken out in Peshawar.
In a statementissued in Islamabad, the Pakistan Federal Government

reaffirmedits obligationto "safeguardand protectthe life, honour and
propertyof all law-abidingcitizens"; and justifiedthe large scale arrests
of PNA leaders.
In a Radio and TV broadcast,the Sind ChiefMinister,Ghulam Mustafa

Jatoi, once again, appealed to the Opposition leaders to rescind the
politicsof violence and help restorelaw and order in the province.He
said thattherewas no confrontation, as rumoured,betweenthe local and
non-localresidentsin theinteriorof Sind.
Accordingto a Jamaat-i-Islamiand Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP) press

release,several PNA leaders had been arrestedin Lahore, Karachi and
othercities of Pakistan. They included Maulana Mufti Mahmud, Pro-
79

fessor Ghafoor Ahmed, Mir Rasul Bux Talpur, Shah Ahmad Noorani,
Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari, Mian Tufail Mohammad and others.The
PNA leader,Begum Nasim Wali Khan was placed underhouse arrestin
Charsadda.
The firstsession of the Pakistan-TurkishJointCommissionforeconomic

and technicalcooperationwas held in Islamabad.
March 26: The Director-Generalof the Pakistan Bureau of Emigration

and OverseasEmploymentdisclosedthat,Pakistanexpectedto earn a re-
cord amountof Rs. 5,000millionin foreignexchangeby 1981fromremit-
tancesby Pakistanisworkingabroad.
It was reportedthat a completegeneralstrikewas observedin Karachi,

in responseto a PNA call fora country-wide
protestagainsttheconvening
of the National Assemblyand to reiterateits demand for freshpolls.
The strikecall was observed in other parts of the country including
Hyderabad,Lahore and Lyallpur.
It was reportedthat 16 more PPP nominees,includingBegum Nusrat
Bhutto,were elected unopposed to the National Assembly,against the
reservedseats forwomenand minorité^.
The National AssemblySecretariatnotifiedthe Assemblymembersof the

arrestsof 4 PNA members-electby the respectivedistrictauthorities.
Membersof the PakistanNational Assemblytook theiroath of officein
the Assembly'sinauguralsession at Islamabad. The 36 PNA members
and the sole memberof the QayyumMuslim League were not present.
PPP Chairman,PrimeMinisterZulfikarAli Bhuttowas re-electedas the
leaderof the PPP parliamentary
party.
The Acting PNA Chief,Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, stated in Lahore
that, despitethe arrestsof a large numberof PNA workers,the move-
mentwould continue.
March 27: It was reportedthat: the Pakistan Election Commissionhad

institutedan inquiryagainst the Deputy Commissionerof Mardan for
allegedmisconductin influencing theresultof theelection(so as to change
it in favourof a losing PPP candidate)to the National Assemblycons-
tituencyNo. NA-7, Mardan-H; followingcomplaintsof unfairpractices
in 4 constituenciesof Jhangand Lyallpur (includingone fromwherethe
Federal Industries Minister,Mian Mohammed Attaullah, had been
declared elected),the Chief Election Commissionerhad orderedthat the
resultsshould be seized and sealed.
80

Addressingthe National Assembly,Prime MinisterBhutto reiterated
his proposalto theOppositionfora dialogueon thepresentpoliticalcrisis.
It was reportedthat the curfewwas totallyliftedin the Karachi district

East, whileit wouldbe relaxedfurther
in otherareas of thecity.
Replyingto thePNA leader,Maulana MuftiMahmud's letterof 24 March,

requestinghim to order general elections under a new administration
and througha new Election Commission,the Pakistan President*Fazal
Elahi Chaudhry,stated that these steps would be unconstitutionaland
"to bypassthe Constitutionwould spell nothingbut disorderand chaos".
The General Council of the PNA passed a resolution,which said: the

people of Pakistan had "totally rejected the 7 March electionswhich
were rigged by the ruling party"; the nationwidedemonstrationsand
strikes"have proved that the people do not recognizethe resultsof the
polls"; as announced by the PNA, on 8 March, the so-called National
Assemblyemergingas a resultof the polls would be an illegalbody, and
the Governmentformedthroughthat body as well as laws framedby it
would have no legal validity.
March 28: Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was re-electedPrime Minister of

Pakistanbyall the 168memberspresentin theNationalAssembly.The PPP
Chairmanwas the onlycandidateforthe officeof thePrimeMinister.
Addressinga gatheringafter assuming the officeof Prime Minister,

Bhuttorenewedhis offerto the PNA fora dialogue; disclosedhis willing-
ness to liftthe Emergencyin the countryif the Oppositionreturnedto
the Assemblyand "gave up politicsof vandalism and agitation"; stated
thattherewould be no furthernationalisation;and promisedthatjustice
would be done tp all classes.
Speakingat a banquet in Rawalpindi,Prime MinisterBhutto ruled out

the possibilityof the dissolutionof the presentNational Assembly.
Addressinga pressconferencein Lahore, thePresidentof thePunjab PNA

Mr Hamza, said that the Alliance was determinedto keep its movement
withinpeacefullimits,but if provocativeactionsby the Governmentgave
would lie withthelatter.
it a violentturn,theresponsibility
The Governments of Pakistanand Turkeysigneda. Protocolin Islamabad

(at the conclusion JointCom-
of the firstsession of the Pakistan-Turkish
mission for Economic and Technical Cooperation), whichprovided for
increasedcooperationbetweenthe two countriesin the fieldsof trade,
industry, agricultureand technicalcooperation.
81

Formal talkbetweenthedelegationsof Pakistanand Kampuchea(former-
ly Cambodia) began in Islamabad today. Whilstthe Kampuchean Rele-
gation was headed by the visitingDeputy Prime Ministerand Foreign
Ministerof Kampuchea, Ieng Sary, the Pakistan delegationwas led by
Aziz Ahmed.
theFederal Ministerof DefencecvndForeignAffairs,
It was reportedthat the JointBoard of the Pakistan-LibyaChamberof

Commèreshad held its meetingin Tripoli,last week.
March 29: It was reportedthat Pakistan and the People's Republic of

China had chalked out a programmefor the exchangeof scientistsand
technologistsduringthe currentyear.
Participating in the SecurityCouncil debate on the Middle East question,

the Pakistan UN Ambassador,Iqbal A. Akhund,asked Israel to change
its attitudetowardsthePalestinianpeople if a just and lastingpeace in the
Middle East was to be achieved.
The Lahore High Court Bar Associationpassed a resolution(modifying

their 25 March resolutionon total boycott),statingthat membersof
the Association would boycott courts every Friday until their three
members,including the Presidentof the Bar, were released.
March 30: It was reportedthat 99 membersof the ProvincialAssembly
had takenoath at the inauguralsessionof the Sind Assembly.
The Pakistan Presidentpromulgatedan Ordinance (amendingthe Re-

presentationof the People's Act 1976), whichprovidedthat the Election
Commission,whileexercisingpowersof holdinginquiriesto considerthe
validityof elections,would be deemed to be a tribunal and no appeal
wouldlie againstthe orderof the Commissionin such proceedings.
An officialPakistan Governmentannouncementdisclosed that the new

Federal Cabinet, consistingof 21 members,and the Attorney-General
had been swornin. The portfolioof Defencewas retainedby thePakistan
PrimeMinisterand Mr Aziz Ahmedwas appointedas Ministerof Foreign
Affairs. (
The PNA took out a numberof processionsin various cities,including

Karachi, Lahore and Hyderabad.
It was reportedthat a huge PNA women'sprocessionwas taken out in
Lahore to protest"against the riggingof electionsand repressionon
and
Oppositionworkers",which resultedin clashes betweenthe police
thedemonstrators.
82

March 31: In a joint communiqueissued in Islamabad at the conclusion
ofthevisitof theCambodianDeputyPrimeMinister,Ieng Sary,Cambodia,
among otherthings,expressedsupportforthe Kashmiripeoples rightof
emphasizedthatthe Kashmirissue should be settled
self-determination;
in accordance with the UN resolutions;and supportedPrime Minister
fora ThirdWorldsummitconference.
Bhutto'sinitiative
The Election Commissionof Pakistan declared the election of former

Federal MinisterHafeezullah Cheema of the Pakistan People's Party
to theNationalAssemblyfromSargodhaas void.
Accordingto a pressnoteissuedbythePunjab Government, several people

were injuredwhen police teargassedand lathicharged an unrulycrowd
in Lahore.
April 1: Prime MinisterBhutto said that he would considerliftingthe

emergency; repealingthe Defenceof PakistanRules (DPR); and releasing
politicalprisoners,if the Oppositionagreedto negotiateforthe solution
of theexistingpoliticaldifferences.
The ElectionCommissionannouncedthattwo Chiefand six other sitting

Judgesof the ProvincialHigh Courts had been appointed as election
tribunalsforthe hearingof electionpetitions.
and business-
PrimeMinisterBhuttoassureda deputationof industrialists
men in Karachi that his Governmentwould not nationalizethe textile
and wouldencourageprivateenterprise.
industry
The Governments of Paristan and the United Statessignedan agreement
providingfor a US loan of $40 millionas assistancein financingthe
and initialoperationof a urea fertilizer
construction plant.
Pakistan became the firstcountryto ratifythe agreementestablishing
the InternationalFund forAgriculturalDevelopment(IFAD), concluded
in Rome on 13 June1976.
Pakistaninformedthe UN Committeeon the Eliminationof Racial Dis-

in Vienna,thatno racialdiscrimination
crimination, existedin the country,
and that Pakistan had no relationswith the racistminorityregimesin
southernAfrica.
April2: It was reportedthat the PNA, on the 21st day of its protest
movement,took out processionsin many major cities of the Punjab,
includingLahore, Lyallpurand Multan, in defianceof Section 144, to
protestagainstmalpracticesin therecentgeneralelections.
83

The visitingForeign Ministerof Czechoslovakia,Bohuslav Chnoupek,
called on PrimeMinisterBhuttoin Karachi.
Under an agreementsigned in Islamabad betweenthe Governmentsof

Pakistanand the United States,the US agreed to providea $1.5 million
grantand the first$6 millioninstalmentof a planned $13.5 millionloan,
to help financethe first3-yearphase of the PakistanGovernment'sbasic
healthservicesprogramme.
It was reportedthat MechanizedConstructionof Pakistanhad obtained

a Rs. 13.7 millioncontractfor the constructionof the Khalis Irrigation
Projectin Iraq.
April3: The 13th meetingof the RCD Committeeon CulturalAffairs

and Information
began in Islamabad.
It was reportedthat the Pakistan InternationalAirlines(PIA) and the
Ariana AfghanAirlineshad resumedtheirflightsafterreachingan agree-
menton the restorationof air servicesbetweenthe two countries,disrup-
ted in 1974.
In a resolutionadopted in Lahore, the General Council of the PNA

protestedagainstthe conveningof the ProvincialAssembliesand called
upon thepeople of the NWFP and the Punjab to demonstrateon 6 and 9
April 1977 againstthe to
MPAs", dissuade
"self-styled them fromattend-
ing the "fraudulentAssemblies".
The ActingChiefof thePNA, Nawabzada NasrullahKhan, told newsmen
in Lahore thattheAlliancewould continueits movementuntilits demand
forfreshpolls was accepted.
Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the formerSecretary-General

of the PNA, Rafiq AhmedBajwa, suggestedthe formationof a national
governmentto solvetheprevalentpoliticalcrisis.
The BaluchistanProvincialAssemblywas inductedfor the next 5-year
termat an oath-takingceremonyin Quetta.
April4: In a Czechoslovakia-Pakistanjoint communique issued in
Islamabad at the conclusionof the visitof the Czech Foreign Minister,
thetwocountriesamongotherthings,supportedefforts fortherestructur-
economicorder;expressedsupportfor the Palesti-
ingof theinternational
nian people's rights; and the struggleof the peoples of Namiba and
Zimbabwefor nationalindependence.
It was reportedthatthe RCD deliberationson the promotionof cultural
relationsbetweenthethreemembercountrieshad concludedin Islamabad.
84

The Speakerof the National Assembly,Malik Meraj Khalid, warnedthat
it would be impossibleforthe countryto surviveif the Constitutionwas
subvertedand an ad hoc arrangementadoptedin its place.
April5 : In an interviewwiththe BBC, the ChiefElectionCommissioner,

JusticeSajjad Ahmed Jan said that he would resignif therewere any
executiveinterferencein the ElectionCommission'sdischargeof duties.
An APNEC press release disclosed that press workersand journalists

had observeda 3-hourtokenstrikein Karachi to pressforthe acceptance
of their7 point charterof demands,includingthe freedomof the press,
the liftingof the Emergency,and the restorationof civil liberties.A
similarstrikewas observedin Lahore on 2 April.
The 13 membersof the Sind Council of Ministerswere swornin by the

Governorof Sind, Mohammad Dilawar Khanji. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
had, on 1 April,been re-appointedto the post of Chief Ministerof the
province.
Japan and Pakistanreachedan agreementon a second Japaneseproject

loan to Pakistan,worthyen 1,900million($65 million),forthe expansion
of its telecommunications
system.
April6: The visitingspecial envoy of the Pakistan Prime Minister,

Additional Foreign Secretary,Shah Nawaz, handed over the Prime
Minister'smessage to the Indian Prime Minister,Morarji Desai, in
New Delhi.
The BaluchistanCabinet was administeredthe oath of officeby the

BaluchistanGovernor,Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, at Quetta. Mohammad
Khan Barozai was appointedto thepost of ChiefMinisterof theprovince.
The PNA leader,Maulana Abul Aala Maudoodi, expressedtheview that

if the Pakistan Prime Ministerwere to create an open and congenial
atmospherefor negotiations,the Oppositionshould be willing to nego-
tiatewithoutpre-conditions.
The ActingPNA Chief,Nawabzada NasrultahKhan, told newsmenthat

the Alliance was unwillingto resile from its earlier stand; Maulana
Maudoodi's termsto end thepresentdeadlockwerenotthoseof thePNA.
The Chief Election Commissionerreiteratedhis commitmentto clear

"all this mess" resultingfromthe elections,withinsix months,by the
eightElectionTribunalsconstitutedby him.
85

The visitingSyrianArab RepublicDeputyPrimeMinister,Abdul Halim
Khaddam, called on the PakistanForeignMinister,Aziz Ahmed,during
a briefstopoverat Karachi.
April7 : A Conventionof Ulemaand Mashaikhin Lahore adopteda reso-

lution urgingthe Oppositionleaders to hold an open dialoguewiththe
Governmentto solve thepresentpoliticalcrisis.
A spokesmanof the Pakistan Rice Export Corporationdisclosed that

Pakistanhad exporteda recordquantityof 5 lakh,90 thousandtonsofrice
valued at Rs. 1,550million,duringthe firstthreequartersof the current
financialyear,endingon 31 March 1977.
April 8: Ruling out the Opposition demand for freshelections,Prime

MinisterBhuttoassertedhis willingnessfor "an intelligent
dialogue" on
thecurrentpoliticalcrisis.
A Sind Governmentpress note disclosed that several PNA processions

were takenout in a numberof townsin the Province,includingKarachi,
Hyderabad and Sukkur.Police firingon a procession of agitatorsin
Karachi on 7 Aprilhad resultedin injuryto fivepersons.
In a joint press conferencein Lahore, Taj Mohammad Langa, Ahmad

Reza Kasuri, Fida Hussain Shah, H.S. Bedi, Zaman Jaffery
and Murtaza
Khar announcedtheirresignationfromthe PPP; theyannouncedthe for-
mationof a new politicalparty,thePakistanAwami DemocraticParty.
It was reportedthatthe Resource DevelopmentCorporationof Pakistan
had completedits drillingand testingoperationsin the country,indi-
catingprovenore reservesof over 330 milliontonnes,containing1,175,091
tonnesof copperand 943,682ouncesof gold.
April 9: The newlyelected Punjab ProvincialAssemblymet in Lahore

forits firstsession.
Officialsourcesdisclosedthat 8 personswere killedand 77 othersinjured

due to police action in clashes with unrulymobs in Lahore, protesting
againstthe holdingof thePunjab Assemblysession.
It was reportedthata 12-memberNorthWest FrontierProvinceCabinet,

headed by the ChiefMinister,MohammadIqbal Khan Jadoon,had been
swornin at Peshawar.
April 10: It was reportedthatpolice had opened fireon agitatingmobs

in Karachi,resultingin thedeathof 5 persons.
86

Accordingto a PNA press release,the numberof deaths,resultingfrom
had goneup to 37.
the9 AprilLahore police firing
It was reportedthat a numberof PNA processionswere taken out in

Multan and Lyallpur to protestagainst police action in Lahore on 9
April,28 prominentworkersof thePNA werearrestedin Rawalpindi.
April 11: The PNA General Council adopted a resolution,calling upon

the people to refrainfrompaying all duties and taxes to the present
Government;and to withdrawdespositsfrombanks etc. The Acting
Chiefof the PNA, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, said: the "primaryob-
jective" of the call was "to pressurizethe Governmentto step aside".
CriticizingMaulana Maudoodi's "irresponsible" interpretation of the

Lahore firingincident,the Federal Ministerfor Informationand Broad-
casting,Tahir MohammadKhan, deniedchargesof "brutalityand oppres-
sion of people" by thelaw-enforcing
agencies.
It was reportedthatone personwas killedas agitatingmobs foughtpitched
battleswiththepolice in Lahore.
Addressingthe Punjab Assembly on the occasion of his re-electionto

the post of ProvincialChief Minister,Sadiq Hussain Qureshi warned
that no one would be allowed to create a law and order situationin his
province.
PNA supportersobserved a strikecall and took out a numberof pro-
cessionsin Karachi and Hyderabad.
The Lahore High CourtBar Associationdecidedto terminatethemember-

ship of lawyerswho had been electedon PPP ticketsto the National or
ProvincialAssemblies.
The Federal Finance Minister,Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, disclosedthat the
Governmenthad set up a committeeto examinethe positionof ricehusk-
ingmillsin thecontextof thedemand of thebusinesscommunity fortheir
The positionof cottonginning,flourmillingand Vanas-
denationalization.
pati Gheemillswould also be considered.
It was reportedthat Indian and Pakistani officialshad begun talks in
New Delhi, aimed at expandingand diversifying trade betweenthe two
countries.
It was reportedthat Bangladeshand Pakistan had signedan agreement
in Karachi forthe sale of Pakistanitelephonicequipmentand cable; and
for furtherimprovingtelecommunication and postal links betweenthe
two countries.
87

April12: The PakistanFederal Finance Minister,Abdul Hafeez Pirzada,
declared that therecould be no compromiseon the principlesinvolved
in the nationalizationof gheemills,cottontrading,exportoperationsand
flourmills.
It was reportedthat 48 persons were injuredin clashes betweenPNA

demonstratorsand police in Lahore.
The Karachi High Court Bar Associationpassed a resolutiondeploring

the 9 April police firingwithinthe precintsof the Lahore High Court
Building "killing many innocent people and injuring several dozen
others,includingadvocatesand retiredjudges".
It was reportedthat20 labour federationsof Pakistanhad formeda new
organizationcalled the "Pakistan Labour Alliance" (PLA).
April13: The Karachi PNA ActionCommitteeappealed to its supporters

untila
to discontinue work at 4 p.m. daily, to hold demonstrations,
revisedprogrammewas announced.
The Acting Presidentof the PNA, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, told

newsmenin Peshawar that the movementlaunched by the Opposition
would continue"till the final and completeacceptanceof the nation's
demands"; he added thatiftheGovernment presentedanyformulato end
thecrisis,thePNA would "consider" it on merit.
In an interviewwiththe BBC, PrimeMinisterBhuttoruledout thepossi-

bilityof holdingfreshelections;addingthathe would not hesitatecalling
out theArmyifnecessaryto restorenormalcyin thecountry.
It was reportedthatDr. MubashirHasan had resignedfromthe officeof

Secretary-General of the PPP. A formerPunjab Education Minister
A. H. Kardar had also resignedfromthe Punjab ProvincialAssembly
and thePPP.
It was reportedthat2 personshad beenkilledand 15 injuredin Hyderabad,

in one of theworstdisturbanceswitnessedduringthemovementlaunched
by the PNA. PNA processionswere also taken out in otherpartsof the
country, includingKarachi and Lyallpur.
It was reportedthat the Chief Justiceof the Lahore High Court had
ordereda probe into the 9 April police firingon some personsstanding
in the High Court premises,in which 2 persons were killed and some
othersinjured.
88

The Lahore High Courtissued noticeon a numberof Governmentoffi-
cials in connectionwiththe police firingon 26 March on a procession
takenout in Ahmedpur(BahawalpurDistrict).
Pakistancalled upon the UN SecurityCouncil to condemnthe aggression

againstBeninand to deal withthe"persisting
evil" of mercenaries.
OfficialfiguresdisclosedthatPakistan'stotal exportsin the 9 monthsof

the currentfiscal year amounted to about $ 805 million,indicatinga
declineof about $ 13 millionas comparedto exportearningsof the same
periodin 1975-76.
April 14: AddressingPPP workersin Lahore, Prime MinisterBhutto

renewedhis offerof talkswiththeOppositionto end the presentpolitical
crisis in the country.He called upon PPP workersto remain united,
disciplinedand peaceful.
The Muslim League President,Pir Pagaro, denied allegationsthat the
PNA was holdingsecrettalkswiththe rulingparty.He declaredthatthe
Alliance had reiteratedits originalstand: that both the Prime Minister
and the ChiefElectionCommissionermustresignbeforea dialoguecould
begin.
A JUP press release statedthat,in a messagefromSukkurjail, the JUP
Chief,Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani had declaredthatthePNA struggle
had entereda "decisivephase".
In a press release,the Special PoliticalCommitteeof the PPP, appointed

by ChairmanZ. A. Bhutto, declared that party"workersshall defend
themselves withdetermination" fromtheviolenceof theOpposition.
The Sind Chief Minister,Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi,disclosedthat the eco-

nomyhad suffered a loss of nearlyRs. 100 croreas a resultof thestoppage
of productionduringdisturbancesin Karachi alone.
It was reportedthat on the call of the newly-formedPakistanLabour

Alliancs, peaceful demonstrationsand rallies were held in Karachi,
Hyderabad,Multan,Lyallpur,Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The Election Commission of Pakistan declared that polls held in the
National AssemblyconstituencyNo. 8 (Lyallpur-13) were vitiatedby
grave irregularities;and ruled the election of Chaudri Bashir Ahmed
Khan of thePPP as void.
Followingthe conclusion of trade talks between the visitingPakistan

delegationand Indian officials,the two countriesagreed to establish a
89

seniorofficials'committeeto providea mechanismforthe promotionof
theirbilateraltrade.
April 15: It was reported that Prime Minister Bhuttohad held an

unscheduledmeetingwiththe founderof theJamaat-i-Islami,Maulana
Abul Aala Maudoodi, on thepresentpoliticalcrisis.
The PNA Council rejectedthe AttorneyGeneral of Pakistan, Yahya

Bakhtiar's formulapresentedto the PNA Chief Nasrullah Khan for
solvingthe country'spresentpoliticalcrisis,as "entirelyirrelevant".The
formularecommendedfreshelectionsto the ProvincialAssemblies,and
the dissolutionof, ana freshelectionsto the National Assemblyif the
Opposition acquireda majorityin all fourProvinces.
It was reportedthat at least 3 persons were killed and 61 woundedin

clashesbetweenrivalpoliticalgroupsin Lahore.
The Lahore High Court admitted two constitutionalwrit petitions,

challengingthe impositionof Section 144 throughoutthe countryunder
thedirectionof theCentralGovernment on 7 March 1977.
It was officiallyannouncedthat Prime MinisterBhuttohad decided to

repealthe Press and PublicationsOrdinance,withimmediateeffect.
In a joint Afghanistan-Soviet Union communiqueissued in Moscow at

the conclusionof the visit of the AfghanPresidentMohammad Daud,
bothcountriesexpressedthehope thatthe"politicaldifferences"between
Pakistan and Afghanistanwould be solved throughpeacefulmeans and
negotiationsinitiatedby the leadersof the t'yo countries.
It was reportedthatPakistanhad exportedtextilesworthover Rs. 1,060

millionduring1976 as againsttextilesworthRs. 1,110 millionexported
duringthe previousyear.
April 16: Officialsources in Islamabad confirmedthe resignationsof

the Pakistan Ambassadorin Spain (Retd.) Air Marshal Rahim and the
Pakistan Ambassador in Greece, Lt. General Gul Hassan. Informed
sources disclosed that a Second Secretaryin the Pakistan Embassy.in
Moscow,Ayaz Amir,had also resigned.
Addressinga public rally in Peshawar,in defianceof her house arrest,

the PNA leader, Begum Nasim Wali Khan, gave "an ultimatumto the
rulingpartyChairman"to acceptthePNA demandsintotoby20 April.
90

It was reportedthat over 2,000 lawyerstook out a
processionfromthe
Lahore High Court to press theirdemand for the relesse of political
prisoners;and to expresstheirresentmentagainstpolice atrocities.
In a joint statement,
Sardar ShaukatHayat and six othermembersof the
National Assemblyfrom the Punjab, demanded freshelectionsin the
countryundera mutuallyagreedbody to solve thepresentpoliticalcrisis.
It was reportedthatthe Chairmatn of the PPP, ZulfiqarAli Bhutto,had
decided to expel Sardar Shaukat Hayat fromthe Party,withimmediate
effect.
The ElectionCommissionerof Pakistanheld the electionsof two MNA' s

fromthe Punjab, as void, and announcedfreshelectionsin the constitu-
encies.
April 17: Prime MinisterBhutto announcedhis Government'sdecision

to introducecompleteprohibitionin the country;to impose a ban on
gambling,bars and nightclubs; and to take stepsto bringtheexistinglaws
in conformitywiththeQuranand theSunnah, withina periodof six months.
He also announcedhis decisionto liftSection 144, whichhad prohibited
thegathering of morethanfourpersons.
It was reportedthat all PPP candidatesto the 24 vacant seats for the
SenatefromthefourProvinceshad been declaredelectedunopposed.
Accusingthe BBC of distortingMrs Wali Khan's 16 April speech, the

PNA leader,Bashir Ahmed Biloursaid that: she had merelystated that
the presentGovernmenthad "no capacityto survive after 20 April";
and no ultimatumhad been issued.
It was reportedthat a Baluchistanbranch of the National Democratic

Party (NDP) (revivedrecentlyafterremainingdormantfor some time,
due to organizationaldifferences)
had pledgedto join the strugglelaunch-
ed by thePNA in the country.
April 18: The PakistanFederal Finance Minister,Abdul Hafeez Pirzada,

announcednewpay scales forGovernment civilianemployeesand Defence
personnel which represented"substantial increases" over the existing
scales,and would an
require added expenditureof Rs. 177 crore.
Reiteratingits rejectionof the Prime Minister'sproposal for freshelec-

tions to the ProvincialAssemblies,the General Council of the PNA de-
manded once again: that Mr Z.A. Bhuttoshould quit the officeof the
91

Prime Minister"which he is holdingunlawfullyand clear the way for
freshelections".
Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the founderof the Jamaat-i-

IslamiyMaulana Abul Aala Maudoodi, suggestedthat Mr Z.A. Bhutto,
as Chairmanof thePPP, shouldenterintoa dialoguewiththePNA leader-
ship to discuss the mechanismand modalitiesof settingup an interim
government whichwould hold freshpolls.
It was reportedthat pro-PPP rallies were taken out in Karachi and

Rawalpindito protestagainstthe "irresponsiblebehaviour"of the Oppo-
sitionparties.
Sardar ShaukatHayat Khan, Mir Balakh Sher

In a joint pressstatement,
Mazari and AmirAbdullahKhan Rokriannouncedtheirresignation from
theNational Assemblyon thegroundsthat,underthecircumstances, they
would not play a usefuland constructiverole in dischargingtheir
responsibilityas legislators.
The World Bank announceda $ 55 million loan to Pakistan forthe
of a fertilizer
establishment plant.
April 19: The Presidentof Pakistan summonedthe National Assembly

to meetin Islamabad on 26 April.
The Governorof the Punjab, Mohammad Abbas Abbasi, administered

theoath of officeto 5 membersof thePunjab Cabinetin Lahore.
In a resolutionadoptedby its GeneralCouncil,thePNA maintainedthat

it did not recognizethe recentelectionsto the Senate as constitutionally
valid since the electoral college (the Provincial Assemblies) had no
representative character.
The PakistanLabour Alliancegave a call to workersall over the country

for an "indefinite strike"to "bringadditionalpressure on
country-wide
theGovernment"foran earlyacceptanceof thePNA's demands.
It was reportedthat rival political groups had clashed in many cities

throughouttheprovinceof Sind.
the PakistanPrime
April20: In a messageon the occasion of Iqbai Day,
of
Minister,Z.A. Bhutto,appealed to the people to "banish the politics
irrationalism,eschew the fomentingof passions and open their minds
to therealizationthatthereis no problemwhichcannotbe solvedthrough
a reasonedapproach"
92

In a press note, the Commissionerof Karachi said that 9 personswere
killedand 70 injuredin clashesbetweenrivalpoliticalgroupsas a "wheel
jam" strikecalled by thePNA paralysedcivicactivityin thecity. Karachi
was placed underindefinitecurfewfrom21 April.
It was reportedthatstrikecalls endorsedby the PNA wereobservedin a
numberofcitiesthroughout thecountryincludingHyderabadand Lyallpur.
The Election Commissionerdeclared two more elections for National

Assemblyseatsof PPP candidates,as nulland void.
A Division Bench of the Lahore High Court allowed interimbail to a
numberof PNA leaders, includingAir Marshal (Retd.) Asghar Khan
and Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri. The Court had taken up the case on 4
Government
April,overriding objectionsto thepetitionfiledunderArticle
199oftheConstitution,challengingthearrestof thePNA leaders.
Under an agreementsignedin Islamabad betweenthe PakistanGovern-

mentand theAmericanoil firmof Union Texas, the latterwas granteda
petroleumconcessionfor undertakingoil explorationand productionin
Sind.
April21: The 3-day "non-cooperation"strikeof the PIA cockpitcrew

concludedafteran agreementhad been reachedbetweenthePIA manage-
mentand the organizationsrepresenting
thecrew.
April22: The Federal Governmentimposed Martial Law in Karachi,

Hyderabadand Lahore,withimmediateeffect.
It was officially
disclosedthatfivepersonshad been shotdead forviolating
the curfewin Karachi.
Clashes betweenrival groups of demonstratorswere reportedin many

citiesthroughout
thecountryas thePNA strikecall was observed.
It was reportedthatthe Armyhad been called out in aid of the civil

administrationin Sargodha.
Meetingin Rawalpindi,the Parliamentary Partyof the PPP discussedthe
situationexistingin the country;and reaffirmed
its faithand confidence
in Mr Bhutto.
It was reportedthat anotherPPP-elect MNA, Mian Salahuddin, had
fromthe National Assembly.
announcedhis resignation
The US newspaper,The Washington Star criticizedthe US State Depart-
ment'sdecisionof 15 March to rescindthe permitissued forthe sale of
teargasto Pakistan.
93

April23: The Pakistan Federal Governmentissued an order directing
thatno matterconnectedwiththe currentPNA agitationcould be pub-
bytheconcernedProvincialHome Secretary.
lishedwithoutscrutiny
Ordersissued on 22 April,
The textsof the fourMilitaryAdministrative
by the MilitaryAdministratorfor Karachi Division and Hyderabad
Division, Lt.-GeneralJehanzebArbab, were printedin Dawn, Karachi,
23 April.
April24: A Pakistan Foreign Officespokesman announced that the

servicesof the PakistanAmbassadorto Cairo, Ahmed Saeed Kirmani,
had been terminated,followingcharges of fraud and misappropriation
of Governmentfunds.
April25: The Governmentof the Islamic Republic of Pakistanand the

Governmentof the Republicof Surinamedecidedto establishdiplomatic
relationsat the ambassadoriallevel.
April26: Officialsources in Islamabad emphasizedthat the imposition

of Martial Law, in three towns,was under specificconstitutional pro-
visionsempoweringthe Federal Governmentto call upon the Armed
in the maintenanceof law and
Forces to assist the local administration
order.
Twenty-eight Senatorstook the oath of officeon the firstday of the

session of the Senate (Upper House) in Islamabad.
The InternationalMonetaryFund (IMF) agreed to a Pakistan Govern-
mentpurchaseof the equivalentof 27 millionSpecial Drawing Rights
(SDRs).
The Indian Ambassadorto Pakistan,Khrisha Shankar Bajpai, delivered
a messageof theIndianPrimeMinister,Morarji Desai, to PrimeMinister
Bhutto,in Islamabad.
April27: The Chairmanof the JointChiefsof StaffCommitteeand the

Chiefs of Staffof the three Servicesdeclared in a statementthat the
Pakistan Armed Forces were united to dischargetheir constitutional
Government".
obligationsin supportoí "thepresent,legallyconstituted
It was officially disclosed that monetaryexpansion in Pakistan during
the fiisthalf of 1976-77amountedto Rs. 5942 million, representing an
annualrateof growthof above 25 per cent.
April28: In a joint sittingof the National Assemblyand the Senate,

thePakistanParliamentadopted a resolutionapprovingtheProclamation
of InternalEmergency issuedby thePresidenton 21 April.
94

Addressingthe joint session of the Parliament,Prime Minister Bhutto
claimed4hattherehad been a "massiveand colossal" foreignintervention
in the internalaffairsof Pakistan,resultingin the presentpoliticalcrisis.
This allegation was reiteratedby the Pakistan Foreign Minister,Aziz
Ahmed.
It was reported that no progresshad been made towardsresolvingthe

politicalcrisis at the 27 April meetingof the detainedPNA leaders at
the Sihaha Rest House in Murree,wherethey had been broughtto
considern?w proposalsput forwardby thePakistanPrimeMinister.
It was reportedthattheUAE ForeignMinister,AhmadKhalifaAl-Suweidi,

had arrivedin Islamabad witha special messagefromtheUAE President,
Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan, for Prime MinisterZulfikarAli
Bhutto.
May 2: In a statementissued by the ForeignOffice,Pakistan expressed

deep concern over the BBC's distortionof Prime Minister Bhutto's
referenceto EgyptianPresidentAnwarSadat, in the contextof the Middle
East situation,in his addressto the National Assemblyon 2& April.
In a messageto PrimeMinisterBhutto,thePLO Chairman,Yasser Arafat

said that he feltproud of Mr Bhuito's patriotic stana and his historical
speechof 28 Aprilin Parliament.
Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) sourcesdisclosedthatthe Chiefof the

PNA, Maulana MuftiMahmud,had receiveda letterfromPrimeMinister
Bhutto.
May 3: The Federal Governmentof Pakistan announced the Wage

Commissionaward for workersof the threeinsurancecorporations,in-
creasingtheirsalariesand allowances.
The petitionof Mr Niaz Ahmed, Advocate, questioning the legalityof

Martial Law was taken up forhearingby a Full Bench of the Sind High
'
Court.
Two more petitions,challengingthe validityof the impositionof Martial

Law in Lahore, and threeotherschallengingthe imposition, of censoron
thenewsmaterialof thePNA movementwereadmittedforhearingbythe
fullbenchof the Lahore High Court.
Accordingto PNA leader,Pir Pagaro, top PNA leadersdetainedin Sihala

werebusyfinalizingtheirreplyto PrimeMinisterBhutto'snew proposals.
95

It was disclosedbyofficialsourcesin Islamabad thatthePakistan-European
Economic CommunityJointCommissionhad decided to appoint a sub-
commissionat expertslevel,to workout the details for joint venturesin
tanning,leathergoods, garmentsand engineeringproducts.
The US State Departmentconfirmedthat theSecretaryof Statehad sent
a letterto Prime MinisterBhutto following Mr Bhutto's speech in the
Parliamentaccusingthe US of aiding his politicalopponents.
May 4: The visitingLibyan ForeignMinistersaid that Pakistan was a

fortressof Islam and it "must remainunitedand strong".
In a statement,a spokesmanof Pakistan's Ministryof Defence accused

Air Marshal (retd.) Asghar Khan of seditionand attemptingto subvert
the loyaltyof the ArmedForces of Pakistan.
The Federal Governmentbanned processionsand meetingsin Islamabad

and Rawalpindisub-division.
May 5: The Acting Chief of PNA, Pir Pagaro, released to the press
of the politicalcrisis.
PNA's draftproposals forthe settlement
The Martial Law authoritiesimposed curfewin all parts of Lahore

Municipal Corporation excepting Lahore cantonment,frommidnight
until furtherorders. Day-time curfew was imposed in Karachi and
Hyderabad.
The NWFP ChiefMinister,Mohammad Iqbal Khan Jadoon,describedas
a 'total lie" a BBC reportof encirclement of the Chinese workersby
Kohistan tribesmen,at the Karakoram Highway. Officialsources in
'
Islamabad also describedthe reportas totallyfalse".
in Salzburg,
Speakingat thenuclearenergyworldconferenceof theIAEA
Austria, the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission,
Munir Ahmed Khan, said that small size reactors were needed by the
developingcountriesto runatomicpowerstations.
Prime MinisterBhutto said that the long list of PNA proposalsforthe

of the political crisisin Pakistan could create complications.
settlement
announcedthat ForeignMinisterAziz Ahmedwould not

It was officially
attendtheforthcoming meetingof the CENTO in Teheran.
s
The Asian DevelopmentBankelected Mr AbdulHafeezPirzada,Pakistan
Board of
Federal Minister for Finance, as Chairman of the Bank's
Governors.
96

May 6: Referring to Air Marshal (retd.)AsgharKhar's messageto the
Chiefsof Staffof the Defence Services,the InteriorMinistryannounced
that the Governmentwas "actively" examiningthe possibilityof taking
legal action againstAsgharKhan forhis "attempt"to inducethe Armed
of theirduties.
Forces to fail in the performance
Chiefsof
Accordingto a notificationissued by the Federal Government,
the Naval and Air Staffweregivenpowersunderthe Defenceof Pakistan
Rules (DPR), in areas wheretheArmedForces of Pakistanwereactingin
aid of civil power.
Accordingto a pressrelease,two persons werekilled as a resultof firing

on a crowd which was attemptingto take out an anti-Government pro-
cession in Lahore.
oftheKarachi Bar Associa-
May 7 : The Presidentand theVice-President
tion werearrestedunderDPR.
May 8: Prime MinisterBhuttourgedthe PNA to stop issuingcalls for

and reduce their 32-pointcharterof demandsto
furtherdemonstrations
manageablefundamental points.
The actingChiefof thePNA, PirPagaro, said thatthePNA leaderswould
not discussthe politicalissues withthe Federal Ministers.
PrimeMinisterBhuttosaid that he had senthis replyto the letterof the

US Secretaryof State, Cyrus Vance, in which the latterhad asked for
quiet and dispassionatetalks over Pakistan-US relationsin the context
of Mr Bhutto's allegation about US interferencein Pakistan's internal
matters.
It was reportedthat the Saudi Arabian and the Libyan Ambassadorsto

Pakistan had met the detained PNA leaders in Sihala. These countries
wereusingtheirgood officesto resolvethe politicalcrisisin Pakistan.
About 70 million tons of sulphurdeposits were reportedto have been

discoveredin theNokkundiarea in thedistrictof Chagai.
The Romanian Ambassadorto Pakistan said that Romania was "acting

together"withPakistan forconveninga ThirdWorld SummitConference
economicrelations.
theinternational
on restructuring
May 9: Accordingto a pressrelease,fivepersonswereinjuredin firing

on a crowd whichwas attemptingto take out a processionduringcurfew
hoursin Lahore.
97

A fullbenchof the Lahore High Court startedtheregularhearingof nine |
petitionschallengingthe validityof the impositionof Martial Law in
Lahore.
May 10: Prime Minister Bhutto confirmedthat the Saudi Arabian

Ambassadorshad held meetingswithhimand the Oppositionleaders.
PrimeMinisterBhuttosaid thatPakistan'senvoyto Iran would represent

CENTO Ministerialmeetingin Teheran.
the countryat the forthcoming
The PakistanNational Assemblypassed the ProhibitionBill.
The ExecutiveCommitteeof the Pakistan National Economic Council

approved26 projectswhichwould cost Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 crore.
May 11: The Federal Governmentof Pakistan extended,for another

ten days, the ban on all typesof meetingsand processionsin Islamabad
capital area and Rawalpindisub-division.
Accordingto a pressrelease,a processionof Oppositionpartiestakenout

in Lahore was lathi chargedby the law-enforcing
agencies.
The Martial Law authoritiesdecided to impose curfewfrom8 a.m. to
8 p.m. in certainareas of Karachi.
An air servicesagreementwas signedin Budapest betweenHungaryand

Pakistan.
The National Assemblypassed a bill declaringFriday as the weeKly

holidayinsteadof Sunday.
The Pakistan Federal Minister for Agrarian Management,Chaudhri
Anwar Aziz, said that the Governmenthad decided to returnto their
formerowntrs all the 1,523 "huiler" units, out of a total of 2,072rice
huskingunitstakenoverin Julylast year.
Pakistanш s electedfo the ExecutiveBoard of theUNICEF.
fortalks on
May 12: The Soviet trade delegationarrivedin Islamabad
thepromotionof bilateraltradebetweenthetwo countries.
said thatAir
Speakingin the National Assembly,PrimeMinisterBhutto
Marshal (retd.) Asghar Khan throughhis recent letterssent to the
Chiefsof Staffand otherofficersof the ArmedForces had attemptedto
be
wreckthe disciplineof th" ArmedForces,and thatsuch an act would
hightreasonunderthe Constitution.
PrimeMinisterBhuttosaid that it was verydifficultforhim to say that
of the PNA, had
his meetinglast night,with Mufti Mahmud, Chief
98

resultedin an "advance" towards a settlementof the presentpolitical
crisis.
Pakistanand Bulgariasigneda tradeagreementfortheyear 1977-78.
It was officiallystated that a Pakistan economic mission was holding

talkswithIndonesianofficialsto discussways of increasingsales of Indo-
nesian palm oil to Pakistan.
Speaking in the National Assembly,Prime MinisterBhutto slated the

"malicious broadcasts" of the BBC on Pakistan's internalpoliticalsitu-
ation.
May 13: Pakistanand theUSSR signeda tradeprotocolprovidingforan

exchangeof goods worth$ 15 million.
Addressingthe National Assembly,Prime MinisterBhutto announced

thathe was planningto hold a referendum on his continuancein his pre-
sentoffice.He said that freshelectionsto the National
Assemblyunder
presentconditionswould be disastrousforthecountry.
The Federal Law Minister,S.M. Masud, statedin theNational

Assembly
thatthe Presidenthad withdrawnthe Ordinanceof 21 March whichhad
empoweredthe Election Commissionto declare void the polls on the
groundof grave irregularities.
Accordingto a press release two persons were killed in Multan when

police openedfireon a processionof Oppositionparties.
The PakistanNational Assemblypassed the Preventionof GamblingBill

banningall formsof gamblingin the country.
May 14: The Federal Finance Minister,A,H. Pirfzada,told a joint session

of the Parliamentthat the proposed referendumfor the continuanceof
PrimeMinisterBhuttoin his presentpositionwould be held under the
supervisionofthejudiciaryand theArmedForces.
The Armywas called in aid of civilpowerin Multan afterclashesbetween

thepeople and police in whichtwopersonswerekilledand ten
injured.
The ActingChiefof the PNA, Pir Pagaro, slatedPrimeMinister
Bhutto's
decisionto hold a referendum.
May 15: The ActingChief of the PNA, Pir Pagara, was placed under
housearrestin Islamabad forthreedaysunderthe DPR.
99

An eight-membereconomicdelegationled byDr. AlexanderFira, member
oftheFederalExecutiveCouncilof Yugoslavia, arrivedin Islamabad.
The Kuwaiti ForeignMinister,SheikhSaba al-Ahmadal-JaberAssabah,

called on Prime Ministei Bhuttoand delivereda messageof the Emir of
Kuwait.
May 16: The Pakistan-IranJointMinisterialCommissionfor Economic

Cooperationbegan its session in Islamabad.
The National Assembly of Pakistan passed the seventh Constitution
AmendmentAct 1977 providingfora referendum by 30 September1977,
to obtain a vote of confidenceof the people for Premier Bhutto's
continuancein office.
The visitingKuwaiti ForeignMinistersaid that Kuwait was "verykeen"

to see thatPakistanremainedstable and united.
In a pressnote the MartialLaw authoritiesZone A said thatthesituation

in Karachi and Hyderabadhad remainednormal.
May 17: The US Secretaryof State was reported to have criticised

Pakistanfornot "seizingthe opportunity"offeredby the recentCENTO
meeting,in Teheran,fora discussionwithhimover US-Pakistanrelations.
Accordingto an officialpress note an anti-Governmentprocessionof

about 500 personshad been takenout in Sanghar,Sind.
In a pressnotetheDeputyMartialLaw Administrator of Karachi Division
prohibitedholding of meetings,rallies and processionsin order to
maintainpeace in thecity.
The JointPakistan-IranMinisterialCommissionmeetingin Islamabad

considereda numberof projectswhichwerebeingestablishedwithIranian
assistance.
May 18: Pakistan and Iran signed a protocol on cooperation in the

economic field at the conclusion of the three-daysession of the Joint
MinisterialCommission for Economic Cooperation.
The Acting Chief of the PNA, Pir Pagaro, at the end of his three-day
disapprovingthe referendum
house arrestin Islamabad issued a statement
plan of PrimeMinisterBhutto.
The Laotian PrimeMinister,Kaysone Phanvihane,made a briefstopover

in Karachi on his way back home fromPeking.
100

May 19: India announced that it would release about 200 Pakistani
nationalsdetainedin India on variouscharges.
PrimeMinisterBhuttoorderedthereleaseof Sardar Abdul QaiyumKhan,

theformerPresidentof Azad Kashmir,who had been in detentionfor the
last 18 months.Sardar Qaiyum was broughtto Sihala recentlyto join
the currentnegotiationsbetween Mr Bhuttoand the Opposition leaders.
After his release, Sardar Qaiyum left for Karachi on his firstleg of
rounds to meet the detained PNA leaders there and in other cities
on behalf of thePNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud.
May 20: The released Azad Kashmirileader,Sardar Abdul Qaiyum,met

the detained PNA leaders at Jacobabad and Dadu, on behalf of the
PNA Chief,Maulana MuftiMahmud.
Pakistanand Yugoslavia signeda protocolto establisha joint ministerial

commissionfor cooperationin the economic,scientific,technical, cul-
tural,and educationalfields.
Accordingto a pressrelease,fourpersonswere killed and sixteeninjured

in Sialkot when police opened fireon a processionwhich "became ex-
tremelyunruly".
Addressingthe Maputo Conference,Pakistan's chief delegate reiterated

Pakistan'sfullsupportto the peoples of Zimbabweand Namibia in their
and independence.
strugglefor self-determination
In a resolution adopted by the eighth Islamic Foreign Ministers

Conference,held in Tripoli, Libya, fortyMuslim countries affirmed
their solidaritywith the Governmentand people of Pakistan in their
effortsto maintaintheirnational unity. They expressedtheirprofound
concern over the "externalmanoeuvres"directedagainst Pakistan.
May 21: In a messagesentto PrimeMinisterBhutto,the Chairmanof the

Islamic ForeignMinistersConferenceexpressedthe desirethat harmony
and cooperation would prevail among all sections of the people of
Pakistan.
Sardar Qaiyum,the formerPresidentof Azad Kashmir,said that a basis

for negotiationsbetweenthe rulingpartyand the Opposition had been
found.
In an interviewthe AfghanPresidentSardar Daud said that "until an

understandingis reachedbetweenPakistanGovernmentand the detained
101

leadersof the defunctNAP", it was not possible to take any practical
step to resolvethe"politicalissue" betweenthetwo countries.
The full bench of the Sind High Court, announcingtheirshortdecision
on the civil petitionof Mr Niaz Ahmad challengingthe legalityof the
Martial Law and the validityof the seventhConstitutionalAmendment,
held that the Sind High Court could not exercisejurisdictiondue to the
seventhAmendment.
Aftermeeting some of the detained PNA leaders in Sind and the

Punjab, Sardar Abdul Qaiyum returnedto Islamabad and met the
PNA President,Maulana MuftiMahmud.
Pakistan's Ministerfor Foreign Affairsannouncedat the eighthIslamic

Conferenceof Foreign Ministersthat Pakistan would give Rs. 2(ЩЮ0
to theJerusalemFund.
May 22: Pakistan's Federal Ministerfor Religious Affairssaid that the

Islamic IdeologyCouncil would be headed by a judge of the
reconstituted
SupremeCourtof Pakistanand it would have 15 membersincludingfour
advisersfromSaudi Arabia, Syriaand Egypt.
May 23: According to officialsources huge mineral deposits worth

of Baluchistan.
over $ 2.8 billionhad beenfoundin Chagai district
Accordingto officialfigures,Pakistan's trade with the Middle Eastern

and the Persian Gulf countrieshad registeredan increase of almost 90
per centduringthelast four ye?rs.
A PakistanForeignOfficespokesmansaid thattheprocessof negotiations

withAfghanistanwas "purelyof a bilateralnature" and that there was
no thirdparty.
In an interviewwithan Iranian daily,the Egyptian Presidentexpressed

his deep concernover the recentdevelopmentsin Pakistan.
May 24: The Presidentof Pakistanpromulgated two Ordinancessuspend-

ing the powers of the High Court in some areas where the Armed
Forces of Pakistanwere,forthetimebeing,actingin aid of civilpower.
Mr Hani Al-Hasan, special envoy of the PLO Chief,Yasser Arafat,

delivered a message to Prime Minister Bhutto. In the message,
Mr Arafathad expressedthe desire that his special envoy would help
to bring about mutualunderstandingamongstPakistanibrothers.
102

OfficialsourcesdeniedtheRadio Kabul reportthat27 demonstrators
and
5 policemenhad been killedat Sukkur,Sind.
Sardar Abdul Qaiyumsaid thattherewas consensusamong PNA leaders

thatnegotiationsbe held withPrimeMinisterBhutto.
In its thirdsession at Meshed, Iran, the CoordinationCommitteeof the
RCD reviewedthe work of the Technical Committees.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN discussed with the UN Secretary-

Generalprospectsof the North-Southdialogue betweenthe industrialised
countriesand thoseof theThirdWorld.
May 25: Talking about Pakistan's political crisis,the special envoy of

the PLO Chiefsaid in Islamabad that some fruitful resultwould emerge
withinthenext48 hours.
It was reportedthat Pakistan would importfertilizerfrom Indonesia.
In an interview,Prime MinisterBhutto said that the present political

crisiscould be resolvedif the Oppositionwas preparedfor a "package
settlement".
May 26: Speaking beforethe SecurityCouncil, Pakistan's Ambassador
to theUN called forintensified
stepsto bringpeace in the Middle East.
Afterbriefdiscussionswith his other PNA partycolleagues, Maulana
MuftiMahmood conveyedto PrimeMinisterBhuttoPNA's formalcon-
sentfora dialogueto resolvethecountry's11-week-oldpoliticalcrisis.
The Saudi Arabian Ambassador conveyedto Mr BhuttoPNA's formal

consentfor talks.
The Presidentof Pakistan promulgatedan Ordinance demonitisingall

currencynotes bearing messages of political, religious or commercial
character.
May 27: The Saudi Arabian Ambassadormetthe detainedPNA leaders

at Sihala and conveyedto themMr Bhutto'squeryabout certainpoints
regardingthe PNA's suggestionsfor restorationof a properclimatefor
negotiations.
The Martial Law authoritiesZone A announced that curfewwould
remainimposedtoday in some areas of Karachi from11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and from3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The Federal Governmentof Pakistannotifiedthatexceptfora fewtextile

productsall otheritemswereexportableto the EEC countries.
103

The visitingspecial envoy of the PLO Chief said that the PLO would
undertakea move fortheestablishment of a specialIslamic Fund to help
Pakistan.
The Martial Law AuthoritiesZone A announcedthat several persons

had triedto take out processionsafterJumaprayersfroma fewplaces in
Karachi but dispersedon arrivalof thelaw-enforcing
agencies.
Speakingbeforethe SecurityCouncil, Pakistan'sDeputy PermanentRe-

forthe attainmentof majorityrule
called forrenewedefforts
presentative
in SouthernRhodesia.
May 28: In an interviewwith Pakistan Television,the visitingspecial

envoyof thePLO Chiefsaid thatPakistanwithitstechnologicalknow-how
and experience in armamentproductioncould play a vital role in
developingtheArab armamentindustry.
The PakistanFederal Cabinet gave Prime MinisterBhuttofullauthority

withthePNA as he consideredfit.
to conductnegotiations
May 29: In a message to Pakistan's Federal Minister for Religious

the AmirofJamaat-i-Islami,
Affairs, India, Maulana Mohammad Yusuf,
his
and offered
expresseddeep concernover the presentcrisisin Pakistan
servicesto bringabout unityamongtheMuslimsof Pakistan.
the
May 30: Pakistan's Federal Ministerfor Religious Affairsrefuted
chargethat the Governmentwas contemplatingany
action against the
leader,Maulana Maudoodi.
Jamaat-i-Islami
Accordingto reports,Pakistan had contractedto purchase2,000 small

size tractorsfromChina.
Pakistan's Federal Ministerfor Religious Affairsannounced that the

Governmenthad decidedto hold talkswiththe PNA withan open mind
and withoutany mentalreservations.
The Saudi Arabian Ambassadorto Pakistansaid that he was optimistic

abouttheoutcomeof thetalksbetweentheGovernment and PNA leaders.
Rs.
May 31: Accordingto informedsources,textilemillshad sought 1,000
resultingfrom
•millionfromcommercialbanks to tide over the difficulties
in
therecentpoliticaldisturbances the country.
In a statement,theActingPresidentof thePNA, Pir Pagaro, said thatthe

termscommunicated to the PNA by Mr Bhuttothroughthe Saudi envoy
came closerto thedemandsof thepeople of Pakistan.
104

Pakistan'sFederal MinisterforFinance,Planningand ProvincialCoordi-
nation said that the country'scurrent"economic pictureis grim" and
1977-78would be "a hard year".
Accordingto reports,the CIA staffhad seizeda big quantityof explosives

in Chiniot,Punjab, followingthearrestof a terrorist
gang.
After meetingPakistan's Foreign AffairsMinister in Paris, the US

Secretaryof State said that"we value greatlythe long and close relations
we had withPakistan."
SOUTH ASIA AND THE FAR EAST
March 2: It was reportedthat the PhilippinesGovernmenthad lifted

MartialLaw in 13provincesin theSouth,to allow thepeople ofthe region
to votein a plebisciteto be held on 17 March 1977.
March 5: Following violations of the six-week-oldceasefire in the

Mindanao-Sulu region, PresidentFerdinand Marcos ordered military
actionagainstall peace violatorsin SouthernPhilippines.
March 9: The Indian militant Socialist leader, George Fernandes (a

candidate contestingthe forthcominggeneral elections from his jail
cell), threatenedto go on a hungerstriketo protestagainst the Indian
Government'sfailureto releasehimto canvassin his constituency.
March 10: While addressinga news conferenceduringhis officialvisit

to Iran, the BangladeshChiefMartialLaw Administrator, Major-General
Ziaur Rahman,said: severalcountriesweremediatingbetweenIndia and
Bangladesh to resolve theirborder and water disputes; India had har-
bouredmiscreantsand had giventhemtraining,armsand moneyto carry
out borderraids in Bangladesh.
In a Bangladesh-Iranjoint communiqueissued on the conclusionof the

visitto Iran of Major-GeneralZiaur Rahman, the BangladeshChiefof
Staffand Chief Martial Law Administrator, the two countriesexpressed
the hope thatproblemsbetweenBangladeshand India would be solved
throughpeacefulmeans; the two sides also reviewedthe situationin the
Indian Ocean area and reaffirmed theirsupportfor declaringthe Indian
Ocean a zone of peace, as envisagedin the UN resolution2832.
PresidentFerdinand Marcos of the Philippinessaid that he was pre-

pared to form a provisional governmentin Southern Philippines,to
superviseelectionsin a proposedMuslimautonomousregion.
105

It was officiallyannounced that the Bangladesh Border Force had re-
centlykilled10 insurgents
operatingfromIndian territory,
in theMymen-
of
singhregion easternBangladesh.
March 12: The Indian Opposition Janata Party leader, Atal Behari
Vajpayee, said that if elected to power, his partywould encourageboth
publicand privateenterprise to expand; wouldrestoretheIndianConstitu-
tion to its basic structure;and restoreall fundamentalfreedomseroded
by the measuresof PrimeMinisterMrs Indira Gandhi duringthe Emer-
gency.He did not agree with Mrs Gandhi's attemptto raise the "bogey
of an externalthreat." (Mrs Gandhi, recently, whilereferring to Pakistan
it
withoutmentioning by name, had said that India was stillfaced with
thethreatfromacross the border).
March 14: Whilespeakingat theChinesereceptionin Dacca, theBangla-

desh Chief Martial Law Administrator, Major-GeneralZiaur Rahman,
said thatthe Bengalees were fullypreparedto uphold theirsovereignty;
on
determinedto establishtheirrights Ganges River waters; and drive
away insurgents from across the border. The Chinese Charge d'Affaires
said that his countrysupportedBangladesh's struggleto safeguardits
national independenceagainst outside interference,and its reasonable
standon thequestionof sharingwatersoftheGanges withIndia.
March 15: Nepal announcedthatit had establisheddiplomaticrelations

at the ambassadoriallevel withSaudi Arabia, as part of its new policy
relationswiththe Arab World. Nepal has diplomatic
to build up friendly
relationswith14 Arab states.
PresidentFerdinandMarcos of the Philippinesannouncedthe postpone-

mentof the plebiscitein SouthernPhilippines,on the proposed creation
ofa Muslimautonomousregion(to be heldon 17 March) to 21 April1977.
This was done to allow the resumptionof negotiationsand to avoid the
renewalof warfarein thearea.
India's national news agency, Samachar, reported that gunmen had

tried to assassinatePrime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi's controversial
son, Sanjay, duringthe election campaign in India, which ended last
night.The rulingCongressPartyblamed the Oppositionfortheincident,
but thelatterdismissedthereportas fabrication.
March 16: PresidentMarcos of the Philippinesannouncedthatthe date

of the forthcomingplebiscitehad been changed once again to 17 April
1977,in compliancewithan agreementreachedin Libya betweenPresident
106

Marcos' wife,Imeldia (actingas his envoy),and leadersof therebelMoro
National Frontof SouthernPhilippines.
Polling for generalelectionsbegan in India today. The votingwill be

spreadover a five-dayperiod.
March 17: The Indian Election Commissionorderedre-pollingin eight
constituenciesin the States of Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradeshand West
Bengal,whereviolentdisturbanceshad occurred.
The Governmentof Sri Lanka warned India, that fightingwould soon
break out betweenIndian and Ceylonese fishermen, unless the Indian
Governmenttook positive action to preventits fishingtrawlersfrom
poachingin Sri Lanka's territorial
waters.
March 20 : The IndiannewsagencySamacharreportedthat,in thecurrent

generalelections,theIndian PrimeMinister, Mrs IndiraGandhi,had lost
in her constituencyof Rae Bareli by more than 55,000 votes. Her son,
Sanjay Gandhi,was also defeatedby 75,844votes in the northernconsti-
tuencyof Amethi.
Following Mrs Gandhi's defeatin the generalelections,the Opposition

Janata(People's) Partydemandedher resignationfromthe officeof the
PrimeMinisterof India.
talks(beingheldin Moscow) on a provisionalarrangement

Japanese-Soviet
forJapan'sfishingoperationsin a 200-mileSovietfishery
zone weredead-
locked,onlythreedays aftertheybegan.
March 22: It was reportedthatthe JanataParty,led by formerDeputy

PrimeMinisterMorarji Desai, and the CongressforDemocracy (CFD),
led by JagjivanRam, had takenpreliminarystepswitha view to forming
a new Government,followingthe defeat in the electionsof the ruling
CongressParty and the resignationof the formerPrime Minister,Mrs
Indira Gandhi.
All India Radio reportedthat the ban on theRashtriyaSwayam Sevak

Sangh(RSS), theAnandMarg and theJamaat-i-I slamiHind and 24 other
organizations had been lifted; a number of political detenuswere re-
leased; presscensorship(enforcedin June1975)was revoked.
The ChineseHsinhuanews agencyreportedthatthe People's Republicof

China and Egypthad signeda long-termtrade and paymentagreement
on 21 March 1977.,
107

March 24: The Janata Party leader, Morarji Desai, was sworn in as
India's fourthPrimeMinister.Afterthe swearing-inceremony,Mr Desai
told newsmenthatIndia would be "fullynon-alignedwithno suspicionof
any alliance withanybody".
Speakingat a banquet given in his honourin Zanzibar,the SovietPresi-

dent,Nikolai Podgorny,said thathe was willingto talk about theestab-
lishmentof "a zone of peace" in the Indian Ocean, an area of high
interestforhis country.
March 25: The Indian news agency,Samachar, reportedthat the Cong-

ress Partyin Occupied Jammuand Kashmir had withdrawnits support
fromtheStateGovernment headedby SheikhAbdullah.
announcedin Kathmanduthat Saudi Arabia had offered

It was officially
Nepal an loan of about $ 30 millionfor road and hydro-
interest-free
electricprojects.
March 26: The PhilippinesPresident,FerdinandMarcos, signeda pro-

clamationdeclaringautonomyin 13 SouthernPhilippinesprovincesand
creatinga provisionalregional,government(with the inclusionof the
Moro National LiberationFront)there.
It was reportedthata major rifthad occurredintheJanata-CFDalliance,

as the CFD leader JagjivanRam and his associateH.N. Bahuguna(both
ministersdesignate),had stayed away from the swearing-inceremony
of theIndian Cabinet. Also absentfromtheceremonywerethe2 Socialist
membersof thenew cabinet,George Fernandesand Raj Narain.
The Thai Governmentannounced, that a small group of Thai army

generalswho had stagedan abortivecoup today,had surrendered
withthe
300 troopswho werewiththem. The fiveleadersof thecoup wereallowed
to leave the countryaftertheyfreedtheirtwo hostages,General Prasert
Thammasiri,Deputy Commander of the Army and General Pralong
Virapri*theArmyChiefof Staff.
March 27: The Indian news agency Samachar reported:that the Chief
Ministerof OccupiedKashmir,SheikhMohammadAbdullah,had resign-
ed fromhis post; the held-KashmirGovernor,L.K. Jha,had decided to
dissolvethe State's legislativeassemblypriorto freshelections,in accord-
ance withSheikhAbdullah'srequest.
It was reportedthatthe CongressforDemocracy(CFD) leader,Jagjivan

Ram, had agreed to join the Governmentof Prime Minister Morarji
Desai.
108

The Indian Governmentrevokedthe externalemergencyimposed in the
countrybeforethe 1971 Indo-Pakistanwar.
It was reportedthat the Indian Election Commissionhad orderedfresh

elections,on 17 April,in a Punjab Statí constituency.
March 28: Speakingat a joint meetingof the Upper ana Lower Houses
of Parliament,the Acting Presidentof India, Basappa Danappa Jatti,
would repeal the Internal Security
said that the Desai Administration
Act and the Preventionof Objectionable Matters Act introducedby
formerPrime MinisterMrs Gandhi, duringthe 19-month Emergency
Rule.
In an interviewwith the US magazine Newsweek,the Indian Prime

MinisterMorarji Desai stated: "...I believe that China and Russia are
yetwe would like to have equal relationswiththem". He
irreconcilable,
added: "The same appliesto theUnited States".
In an interviewwiththe US magazine Time,the Indian Prime Minister,

"
Morarji Desai, said that his country'snuclear reactors . . .willneverbe
used foratomicbombs". He added, however,that"maybe,it is necessary
to explode a bomb forpeacefulpurposes,if it is not necessary, itshould
not be done".
Thai Foreign Ministrysources disclosed that 15 people (includingThai

and Burmesecitizens)had been killedand 45 wounded,whentheBurmese
Governmentforceshad opened fireon escapingKaren rebels,at a border
villagein NorthwestThailand.
It was reportedthat the Indian Prime Minister,Morarji Desai, had

twoof the JanataParty'selectoralallies-
finalizedhisCabinetcomprising
the Congressfor Democracy (CFD) and the Sikh Akali Dal of Punjab.
The portfoliosof Home Affairs,Defence and External Affairs were
grantedto Charan Singh,JagjivanRam and A.B. Vajpayeerespectively.
March 29: An officialannouncementdisclosed that the BurmesePrime

Minister,U Sein Win, and two otherGovernmentministers had resigned
U Maung Maung Kha, hithertoMinister
in a major cabinet reshuffle.
of Mines and Labour, was appointedPrimeMinister.
The Indian InteriorMinister,Charan Singh, announced in Parliament

that freshelectionsto the "LegislativeAssembly"of Occupied Kashmir
wouldbe held withina periodof threemonths.
109

issuedin New Delhi, thepro-SovietCommunistParty
In a pressstatement
of India (CPI) declared its conditionalsupport for the Janata Party
Government.
Respondingto a questionin Parliament(concerningthe so-called"Korea

Clause" in the 22 March 1977 US-Japanjoint communique,issued at the
conclusion of his visit to Washington),the Japanese Prime Minister,
Takeo Fukuda, foresawa possibilityof Japan consentingto US combat
action frombases withinthe country,in case of an emergencyin South
Korea.
The IndianExternalAffairs Minister,Atal Behari Vajpayee,toldthe Lok

Sabha (Lower House of Parliament),that the new Indian Government
would not make any unilateral change in the special statusof Indian-
occupied Kashmir under Article370 of the Constitution, withoutfirst
consultingthepeople of thatState.
March 31: It was reportedthat, duringan informalmeeting,recently,

withthe US delegationin Hanoi, a high-ranking memberof the North
Korean Parliament,Li Kye Baik, had suggestedthatthetimewas ripefor
the"normalization"of relationsbetweentheUS and his country.
A Special Martial Law CourtsentencedtheformerBangladeshPresident,

Khondkar MushtaqiieAhmed,to a three-year prisontermon chargesof
corruptionand abuse of officialposition.
April 1: The Bangladesh PresidentialAdviser for Commerce, Saifur

Rehman,accused India of failingto abide by its trade agreementwith
in theexistingtradeimbalancein itsownfavour.
Bangladesh,resulting
It was reportedthat Japan and the People's Republic of China had

agreed to conclude a comprehensivelong-termtrade agreementin an
to expand bilateraltradeon a balanced basis.
effort
April 2: It was reportedthat negotiationsto build two nuclear power

plantsin South Korea withFrenchtechnologicaland financialassistance
made major progressin talks betweenthe visitingSouth Korean Deputy
PrimeMinisterDuck-Woo Nam and theFrenchPrimeMinisterRaymond
Barre.
On hisreturnfromLibya,theMalaysianForeignMinister,Tengu Ahmad
Rithauddeen,disclosed that Libya and Malaysia would be forminga
JointCommissionto supervisejoint ventureprojectsbetweenthe two
countries.
110

Speakingto newsmenin New Delhi, the Indian Health Minister, Raj
Narain, disclosed that hundredsof people had been killed during the
sterilizationcampaign of the formerPrime Minister,Indira Gandhi's
Government.
The JapanesePrime Minister,Takeo Fukuda, expressed formalregret

over the SovietUnion's actionin withholding
theentryvisa of his special
envoy,Chief Cabinet SecretarySunao Sonada. Mr Sonada was being
senton a missionto negotiatetheJapanese-Soviet
fishery
dispute.
April 3: In an interviewwith the daily Ittefaq,the Bangladesh Chief

Martial Law Administrator,General Ziaur Rahman, said: If India
wanted to develop betterrelationswith his country,"she will have to
dismantlethe insurgentcamps and give the rightful
share of the Ganges
water"to Bangladesh.
April4: Addressingthe Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) the

Indian ForeignMinister,Atal Behari Vajpayee, statedthathis Govern-
menthad conveyedits "concern" to Washingtonover the reported US
move to sell arms to Pakistan. He also disclosedhis country'sreadiness
fora no-warpact withPakistan.
April 6: The Indian Lower House of Parliament,Lok Sabha, passed a

Bill repealingthe Preventionof Publicationof ObjectionableMatter Act,
imposedbytheParliamentduringthe 1976Emergencyin thecountry.
The New YorkTimesallegedthatthe Taiwaneseregimehad secretlypur-

chased Gabrielsurface-to-sürface
missilesfromIsrael.
April7 : Addressingtheinauguralsessionof theNon-AHgnedMovement's

CoordinationCommitteein New Delhi, theIndianPrimeMinister,Morarji
Desai, said thathis countrywould remainnon-alignedin the real sense
of theterm.
The Indian Home Minister,Charan Singh,announcedin Parliamentthat

theGovernment was appointinga judicial commissionto inquireinto the
malpracticesand misdeedsof the Indira Gandhi Administrationduring
the 9-month-oldemergency.
April 8: It was reportedthat the Indian Congress Party Ministry in

Gujrat State had resigned; it was the thirdState Ministryto do so since
theJanatavictory;previouslythe StateAssemblyin Jammuand Kashmir
Stateand theCongressMinistryin theTripuraStatehad also resigned.
Ill

April9: The PhilippinesPresident,FerdinandMarcos, announced thai
Muslimrebelshad not acceptedhis offerto join a provisionalgovernment
in southern Philippines;but hoped that the Libyan-based Moro Na-
tionalLiberationFront(MNLF) leader,Nur Misauri,would returnto the
country.Earlier,on 4 April,he had offeredto name Mr Misauri as
Chairmanof theProvisional Government.
In a press note issued in Kathmanduat the conclusionof the visit of

the BurmesePresidentNe Win to Nepal, the Nepalese Monarch King
Birendraand the BurmesePresidentexpressedtheirbeliefin the existing
scope forthewideningof theirbilateralcooperation"in thefield of trade
and culturalmatters".
It was reportedthat the visitingBritishConservative Party leader,

Mrs MargaretThatcher,had held a meetingwiththeChinese Communist
PartyChairman,Hua Kuo-feng,in Peking.
April 10: The JapanesePrime Minister,Takeo Fukuda, denied reports

thathis Governmenthad compromisedon the Sovietenforcement on a
200-milefishing
zone aroundthe4 Soviet-occupied
Japaneseislands.
It was officially
announcedin Rangoon thatBurmahad establisheda 200-
mileoffshoreeconomiczone to safeguarditsnationalinterests.
The General-Secretary of theExtremeMarxist-Leninist CommunistParty

of India (CPI-ML), SatyanarainSingh, announced that his party was
willingto participatein the democraticprocess; and that it had begun
a dialoguewiththeIndianGovernment to thatend.
Diplomaticsourcesin BangkokdisclosedthatLaos had declareda state of

alert in Vientianeas Governmentforcesshelled rightistrebels on two
islandsin theMekongRivernearThailand.
April 12: The PhilippinesPresident,FerdinandMarcos, announced that

theChiefMuslimnationalistleader,Nur Misuari,had acceptedan offerof
autonomyin the 13 southernPhilippinesprovincesto end the Muslim
disputethere.
April 13: The Indian news agencySamacharreportedthat: police had
brokenup inter-faction in Srinagar,betweenthe "supporters
fighting and
opponentsof the formerChief Ministerof Occupied Kashmir, Sheikh
MohammadAbdullah.
April 15: It was reportedthateightBangladeshnationalsof two border
villagesof Mymensingh districthad been kidnappedby armed insurgents
operatingfrom sanctuaries
acrossthecountry'sborderwithIndia.
112

April 16: It was reportedthattalksin Dacca betweenthevisitingIndian
delegationand Bangladeshofficials, on the sharingof the Ganges River
waters,had been concludedinconclusively.
April 17: The Chairman of the MNLF, Nur Misuari, announced the
organization'sboycottof the proposedreferendum on "autonomyforthe
13 southernPhilippinesprovinces. He alleged that the referendum
was
"illegal" and not in keepingwiththepreliminary
agreements.
April 19: Returningfroma visitto theUS and Canada, theSouthKorean

Commerce-Industry Minister,ChangYie Joon,disclosedthatthe Canadian
Government had offereda US $ 130 million loan to help financethe
constructionof SouthKorea's secondnuclearpowerplant
Addressingthe South Asia Foreign Correspondents Association in

New Delhi,theIndianPrimeMinister,Morarji Desai, definedhis coun-
and friendship.He statedthat India
try'sforeignpolicyas non-alignment
wouldrefrain from"leaningtowardsanyone countryin particular".
All India Radio reportedthat India and Bangladeshhad reached an

understandingon the sharingof the Ganges waters,followingtalks bet-
weenthedelegationsof thetwocountriesin Dacca.
April20: The Japanese Prime Minister,Takeo Fukuda, disclosed that

the Soviet Governmenthad demandedfromJapan 3,080 millionyen as
compensationfor its mishandlingof the MIG-25 Sovietjet fighterflown
to Hokkaidobya Russiandefector, in September1976.
April21 : It was reportedthat Major-GeneralZiaur Rehman had been

swprn'inas thePresidentof Bangladesh,inplaceof the outgoingPresident,
Abu Sadat MohammedSayem,who had resignedbecause of ill health.
April22: The Bangladesh President, Major-General Ziaur Rehman,

announcedthata referendumwould be held on 30 May to determinehis
acceptabilityas the country'shead of state.A large numberof political
detaineeswerereleasedin preparationforthereferendum.
April23: The PhilippinesElection Commissionalleged that, according

to a referendum held on 17 April, about 95 per cent of over 3 million
votershad rejecteda proposal to merge the 13 south-western provinces
intoan autonomousMuslimregion.
April25 : It was reportedthatthe OppositionIndian CongressPartyhad

takento the SupremeCourt its battleto preventthe rulingJanataParty
113

Government from holding elections in 9 important Congress-ruled
northern
states.
April27: In an India-SovietUnionjointcommuniqueissuedin New Delhi,

at the conclusionof the visit of the Soviet Foreign Minister, Andrei •
Gromyko,the two countriesnotedwith satisfactiontheiridenticalposi-
tion on many major issues, and pledged to continue to work in the
spiritof their1971treaty.
It was reportedthat7 leadersof theextremeleftistpro-Chinese Naxalite
Nationalistmovementwere arrestedon arrivalby special Government
plane from Calcutta to NewDehli fortalks withthe Indian Home
MinisterCharan Singh.
April29: The Indian SupremeCourt dismissedthe appeals of 6 of the

9 Congress-ruled Statesforan injunctionagainsttheCentralGovernment
decisionto dissolvetheirStateAssemblies.
May 1: It was reportedthatBangladeshPresident,Major-GeneralZiaur

Rahman, had announced the 19-pointpolicy programmeof his new
Government.
It was reported,thatthe CongressPartyleadershad describedthe Presi-
dential proclamationdissolvingthe Provincial Assembliesof the nine
Congress-ruledStates, as a "dictatorial act" of the Janata Party
Government.
May 2: The Libyan Foreign Minister,Abdel Salaam al-Tareki, said

thatLibya would continueits efforts
to workfora peacefulsettlement
in
the SouthernPhilippinesdespitethe breakdownof negotiationsbetween
theMoro NationalLiberationFront(MNLF) and thePhilippinesGovern-
ment.
It was reportedthat formerIndian Prime Minister,Indira Gandhi, had

been orderedby theAllahabad High Courtto show cause whyshe should
not be punishedforcriticising
the Court,whichhad set aside, on 12 June
1975,herelectionto ParliamentfromUttarPradeshState.
The US State Departmentannouncedthat the US and the People's Re-
public of China had begunnegotiationsto settletheirfinancialdifferences,
datingfromthe ChineseRevolutionin 1948.
It was announced in Manila that the Philippines Government,the
Filipino Muslim freedomfighters and Islamic Conferencerepresentatives
had failedto reacha finalsettlement
to theMusliminsurgency in Southern
Philippines.
114

of India's newrulingpartywerereportedto haveformal-
Four constituents
lymerged intoone group. The breakawayCongressforDemocracy(CFD)
also announcedits decisionto mergewiththem.
It was reportedthat the South Korean President,Park Chung Нее, had

beguna nationwidepolice round-upof his politicalopponents.
May 4: The Indian Finance Ministersaid that the US was considering

the question of nuclear fuel supplies to the Tarapur atomic reactorin
India.
Indonesia'sGolkar Partywon the majorityvotes in the country'sgeneral

elections.
Followingtalks betweenthe US and Vietnamesedelegationsin Paris,

the US Secretaryof State said thatthe US would not oppose Vietnam's
membership in theUN.
May 5: Indonesia's oppositionpartiesalleged that the generalelections

held in thecountryhad been rigged.
Talks over borderincidentsbetweenIndia and Bangladeshwere reported

to have ended satisfactorily.
May 10: The Ministerof Petroleumand Chemical Industries of the

People's Republicof China,said thathis countrywould soon outstripthe
US in oil production.
The US Presidentand the Indian Prime Ministerwere reportedto have

exchangedmessagesstressingon a betterrelationshipbetweenthe two
countries.
It was announced that electionsfor the LegislativeAssembliesin ten

Indian States and two Union Territorieswould be held between 10-14
June1977.
May 11: India and Bangladeshfailedto reach agreementon the sharing

of theGangeswatersaftertheirfivedaysof talks.
The Saudi Arabian King held talks withthe visitingPhilippinesForeign
Ministeron thequestionof FilipinoMuslims.
The LegislativeAssemblyof Mizoramwas dissolvedand theterritory

was
placed underdirectrule of the Indian Government.
May 13: The Congress Party Governmentin India's eastern State of

Manipurresigned.
115

Speakingat a meetingof the economicconference in Peking,Communist
PartyChairman of the People's Republic China,Hua Kuo-feng,called
of
to speed up the country'seconomicreconstruction.
forgreaterefforts
May 14: The Indian ExternalAffairsMinister,called on the EEC to

give a lead in meetingthe legitimateaspirationsof the developingcoun-
triesat theNorth-Southtalksin Paris,scheduledto be held thismonth.
was prepared
May 15: US officialssaid that the Carter Administration
to deliverpartof a long-overdueshipmentof uraniumfuelto India under
certainconditions.
India's
May 16: The Indian PrimeMinister,Morarji Desai, reaffirmed
decisionnot to manufacture
nuclearweapons.
May 17: Accordingto reports,Japan and the Soviet Union had reached
agreementon settlingtheirdisputeoverfishing
rights.
May 19: The visitingSoviet trade delegationheaded by I.T. Grishin,

Deputy Ministerof Foreign Trade, and Bangladesh officialssigned a
sixthbartertradeprotocol.
The United Patani LiberationOrganizationclaimingto representthree

millionMuslims of Thailand was reportedto have sent á letterto the
eighthIslamicForeignMinistersConference.
May 20: A WhiteHouse Press Secretarydeclaredthatthe US was com-

mittedto the defenceof South Korea despiteits planned troops with-
drawals.
The JapanesePrimeMinistersaid thatJapantreatedfisheryand territorial

problemswiththeSovietUnionas separateissues.
May 24: The Nepalese Prime Minister,Tulsi Giri, accused the Indian
mass media includingtheAll-IndiaRadio of carryingon a "hate Nepal"
campaign.
SheikhAbdullah,theformerChiefMinisterof Indian-OccupiedKashmir,
said thatif Kashmiriswerenot allowed to live withdignity,they would
nothesitateto separatefromIndia.
May 25: An Indian officialspokesmansaid thatthe Indian Government

had no intentionto abrogateArticle370 of theConstitution
which assured
specialstatusto Jammuand Kashmir.
116

May 26: Accordingto reports,the US Defence Secretarysaid that
South Korea would be able to defenditselfwithoutUS ground troops.
Accordingto reports,theUS had decidedto supplyIndia withuraniumon
conditionthat both Governmentstalked about their future relations
in thenuclearfield.
May 27: Japanand theSovietUnion signeda provisionalfisheryaccord.

The People's Republic of China protested against the plans of Japan
and South Korea to developjointlythe continentalshelf between the
two countries.
May 29: The visitingDirector-Generalof theJapanese Economic Plann-

ingAgencydisclosedinParis that Japanplannedto contribute$ 15 million
to help poor nations.
May 30: PresidentZiaur Rahman of Bangladeshsecuredmajorityvotes

on hisMartialLaw ruleand policies.
in a nationalreferendum
MIDDLE EAST
March 1: A joint communique,issued on 28 February,at the conclusion

of the summitconferenceheld in Khartoumof heads of state of Egypt,
Syria and Sudan, stated that: the unifiedpoliticalcommandcreated by
the threecountriesduringthe summit,would be the "nucleus" towards
the completeunificationof the threecountries;the threePresidentshad
discussedthe means of drawingup a joint strategyfor safeguardingthe
securityof the Red Sea.
March 4: Accordingto the Libyannewsagency,ARNA, Libya's General
People's Congress,at a meetingheld in Sebha on 2 March,officiallypro-
claimed"people's power" and renamedthe countrythe "People's Social-
ist LibyanArab Republic". It also dissolvedthe 7-yearold Revolutionary
CommandCouncil and, instead,electedа 5-тетЬгг "General Secretariat
of thePeople's Congress"headed by the LibyanleaderColonel Muammer
Gaddafi.
theLebanese Foreign Minister

In a messageto the UN Secretary-General,
informedhim that his countrywould like to participatein the Geneva
Peace Conferenceon the Middle East.
March 5: The Togolese Foreign Minister,speaking on behalf of the

African nations at the opening of the Afro-Arab Foreign Minister's
meetingheld in Cairo, called on the Arab Worldto look beyond economic
considerationsand take firmactionto help Africa develop its resources.
117

It was reportedthat the Africanand Arab ForeignMinisters,meetingat
Cairo, had unanimouslyvoted to impose "an immediateand directblock-
ade on exportsand deliveryof petroleumto Israel, Rhodesia and South
Africa".
March 7: PresidentAnwar Sadat of Egypt inauguratedthe firstAfro-

Arab summitconferencein Cairo (attendedby 60 statesand the PLO),
witha call forjoint ThirdWorld actionto eradicatethetracesof enslave-
ment and exploitation.The Chinese Communist Party Chairman,
Hua Kuo-feng,was reportedto have sent a telegramof supportto the
SummitConference.
At the firstAfro-Arabsummitconferenceheld at Cairo, Saudi Arabia

announced that it would allocate one billion dollars for economic de-
velopmentin Africa,i.e., almost half of the total aid that Africahad
soughtfromthe Arab World. Kuwait also promisedto contribute240
milliondollars forAfrica'suplift.
During his talks withthe visitingIsraeli PrimeMinister,Yitzhak Rabin,

in Washington,the US PresidentJimmyCarteragreedthatthe time was
ripe for a major effortto resumeArab-Israelnegotiationson a Midd'e
East peace settlement.
Israel border police forciblydissolved a demonstrationby about 100

studentsin theWestJordantownof Ramallah.
March 8: The EgyptianDeputy Prime Ministerdisclosed that officials

of the InternationalMonetaryFund (IMF) had agreed, in principleto
provideEgyptwithabout £ 600 millionin economicaid.
Arab Ambassadorsin Washingtonrequestedan urgentmeetingwiththe
US Secretaryof State,CyrusVance, in orderto seek an explanationof a
remarkmade by PresidentJimmyCarter(on 7 March, whilewelcoming
Israel's PremierYitzhak Rabin), that Israel should have "defensible
borders".
March 9: At the conclusionof the firstAfro- Arab SummitConference

in Cairo, 60 nationssignedthe "Cairo Declaration" whichspelt out the
generaltermsforfutureArab-African relations.PresidentSadat of Egypt
said that Afro-Arabcooperationwas now governedby "mutual definite
commitments in the financialand economic spheres as well as in the
politicalregion".
PresidentJimmyCarterof theUS statedat a pressconference, thatIsrael's
security interestsand defencelines did not necessarilyhave to corres-
118

pond withits borders,but indicatedthat internationalguaranteescould
play a major role in the searchfora Middle East peace.
It was reportedthat duringa clash with Israeli troops in the occupied
West Bank town of Ramallah, 17 demonstrating Arab studentshad been
injured.The demonstrations were held in supportforthe hunger-striking
Arab guerrillasin Israeli prisons.
March 11: In a joint communiqueissued at the conclusionof the Cuban

President,Fidel Castro's visit to Libya, the two countriesmaintained
that Middle East peace dependedon the liberationof all of Palestineand
the occupied Arab territories;affirmed that theywill aid the liberation
movementsin Africaand Latin America; condemnedthe collusionbet-
ween racistSouth Africaand Israel; and expressedsupportforPanama's
struggleforcontrolover the Canal.
March 12: It was reportedthata delegationof the Islamic Development
Bank visitingTurkeyhad pledged the Bank's supportforTurkey'sindus-
trialprojects.The Bank would also welcome Turkey'stechnicalsupport
in extendingcreditsto developmentprojectsin Islamic countries.
The EgyptianPresidentAnwar Sadat, called the recentproposals by the

AmericanPresidentJimmyCarter,coveringamong other thingsmajor
adjustmentsto Israel's presentborders,"inadmissible".He was inaugu-
ratingthe 13thsessionof the PalestineNational Council (Parliament),in
Cairo.
Diplomatic sources at the UN disclosed that Egypt had decided to ask

foran earlymeetingof the SecurityCouncilto debatethefailureof efforts,
so far,to reactivatethe Middle East peace conferenceat Geneva.
In a communiqueissued at the conclusionof the Cuban President,Fidel

Castro's visit to South Yemen, Cuba and South Yemen promised
supportfortheOmanPeople's LiberationFrontand thePLO; pledgedtheir
supportfor moves to make the Indian Ocean a "Zone of Peace", and
expressedsolidaritywith Latin Americanand Africanliberationmove-
ments.
March 13: The fourArab Ambassadorswho conferredrecentlywiththe
US Secretaryof State,CyrusVance, said thattheyhad receivedassurances
thattherehad been no changein US Middle East policyas a resultof the
Israeli PrimeMinister'srecentvisitto Washington.
An officialspokesmanof the 293-member13thPalestineNational Council

(Parliament)stated,in Cairo: that the PalestinianCharterwill not be
119

alteredto include the recognitionof Israel's rightto exist; the Council
will not set up a government-in:exile;
the Council was "not againstany
Arab statethatmightwantto negotiatewithIsrael to getback its usurped
land; "If thereshould be a Geneva Conference,we will then makeour
positionknown"(regardingPalestinianparticipation in theConference).
March 14: The Middle East News Agencyreported,thatduringhis talks

with PresidentAnwar Sadat of Egypt in Cairo, the Italian Foreign
Ministerhad promised that his countrywould extend a $ 40 million
loan to Egypt.He also promisedthat Italy would make efforts,within
the European Community, in the searchforpeace betweenthe Arabs and
Israel.
Saudi Radio reportedthat the Islamic SolidarityFund had agreed to

spend $1.5 millionto "resistJudaizationof Jerusalemand other Arab
areas" underIsraeli occupation.
March 15: Speaking before the Palestine National Council in Cairo,

the PLO leader, Abu Mazen, said: King Khalid of Saudi Arabia had
agreedto pay theexpensesof Arab Jewswishingto leave Israel and return
to theirformerhomes in Arab countries;several Arab statesincluding
Syria,Iraq, Libya, Morocco and South Yemen, had agreed to accept the
Arab Jewswishingto abandon Israel.
The Egyptian Defence Minister,General Mohammed Gamassy, told

Parliament:that a new war in the Middle East would engulfall Arab
countries;Arab assistanceto Egyptfor financingarms deals was only a
a quarterof the militaryassistanceIsrael receivedfromthé US during
the past fewyears; the oil-richstatesshould not stack weapons at home
but stationthemnear the confrontation lines withIsrael.
Accordingto the US News and WorldReport , the Israeli PrimeMinister

Yitzhak Rabin, duringhis recentvisit to Washington,had reached an
understanding withPresidentJimmyCarterof the US, that Israel could
continuesellingAmerican-designedweapons to other countries,as long
as the US approved the buyers.
Adoptinga hardlineposition on the Middle East at a meetingof the

Palestine National Council (the Palestine parliament-in-exile),
the PLO
Political DepartmentChief, Farouk Kaddoumi, declared: the PLO will
neverrecognizeIsrael; layingdown of difficult conditionsregardingthe
Geneva Conferenceamountedto a rejectionof the conference.The PLO
Chief,Yasser Arafat,criticisedthe recentstatementof the US President
120

in whichhe drew a distinctionbetweenIsrael's "legal boundaries" and
"defensibleborders", and hinted at a possible escalation of military
operationsinsideIsrael.
The SovietnewsagencyTass reported,thatthe TurkishForeignMinister,
Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil,had concluded officialtalks in Moscow with
the Soviet Foreign MinisterAndrei Gromyko.The two leaders also
and technicalcooperation.
signedagreementson economic,scientific
March 16: A PLO leader, Abu Mazen, told a meetingof the Palestine
National Council in Cairo, that Israel was preventingArab Jewsfrom
returningto theircountriesof origin. He added that despitethis 4,000
JewsfromIsrael had returnedto Morocco.
Osman Saleh Sabbey,a spokesmanof the EritreanLiberationFront,dis-

closed thatbetween50,000to 60,000Eritreannationalistshad been killed,
since 1960,whentheirstruggleforindependencebegan withthe Ethiopian
Government.
It was confirmedthat the heads of state of Somalia, Sudan, and North

and South Yemen will hold a summitmeetingat Taiz (North Yemen),
nextweek.
Egyptformallyrequestedthe SecurityCouncil to discuss the resumption

as soon as possible.
of the Geneva Middle East peace conference,
PresidentJimmyCarterof the US said: that peace could be restoredin

the Middle East thisyear; threepreliminary stepshad to be takenbefore
- recognitionof Israel's rightto exist; the open-
it could be established
ing of Arab-Israelbordersto trade,traveland culturalexchanges;agreed
bordersforIsrael; and solutionto the Palestinianproblem.
Accordingto a study published by the German Orient Institute of

Hamburg,the Arab oil stateswill have a cumulativebalance of payments
surplusof $240,000 millionby 1985. The studydisclosedthat numerous
had channeleda total of $4,000 millionto develop-
Arab aid institutions
ing in
countries Asia, Africaand Latin America,in the formof creditand
otherassistance.
The Lebanese Leftistand Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt,was shot dead

gunmenin an ambushnear Kfar,southeastof Beirut.
by unidentified
March 17: In his speech beforethe PalestineNational Council in Cairo,

the PLO leader,Yasser Arafat,said thatthe US PresidentJimmy Carter's
121

recentreferenceto a "freePalestinehomeland"was a positivestatement
whichwould be carefullyexaminedby thePLO.
In an articlepublishedin theAmericanquarterly, a former

ForeignAffairs,
US Secretaryof State,George W. Ball, expressedthe fearthatunlessthe
US pushed the contendingMiddle East partiesto the negotiatingtable
oil embargowerevirtually
both a disastrouswar and a highlydestructive
inevitable.
In a joint communiqueissued in Teheran,the PrimeMinistersof Egypt

and Iran called fortheearlyconveningof the Geneva Middle East Confe-
rence with the participationof all the parties concernedincludingthe
PLO; demandedthe withdrawalof Israeli forcesfromthe Arab territories
occupiedsince 1967,and the restorationof the rightsof the Palestinians;
called for the establishmentof a nuclearfreezone in the Middle East;
said thatthe Indian Ocean shouldremaina zone of peace.
March 18: While addressinga lecturemeetingrecently,Prime Minister

Salim el Hoss of the Lebanon disclosed,that the 19-monthold civil war
in the Lebanon had cost the countrymore than 12 billion dollars in
damages,revenuesand indirectlosses. These were the firstofficialesti-
matesof Lebanon's economiclosses duringthe war.
March 19: It was reportedthat the Arab Bank for Economic Develop-
mentin Africahad granteda loan of $22.2 millionto Mali, Ghana and
Senegal.
The Soviet news agency Tass reported:that Turkeyand the USSR will
treaty,in the near future;thejoint communiqueissued
sign a friendship
at theconclusionof theTurkishForeignMinister'srecentvisitto Moscow
had indicated that economiccooperationwill increasebetweenthe two
countries.
March 20: It was reportedthatthe PLO leadership,in a reportsubmitted

to the PalestineNational Council by the 13-manExecutiveCommittee,
had proposed conditionsfor its participationin the Geneva Conference
on the Middle East, that implied a hardeningposition on some issues
on others.
and a slightsoftening
At its meetingin Cairo, the PalestineNational Council (PNC) adopted

a political programmewhich called for the establishmentof an inde-
pendentPalestineState and adherenceto the strategicaim of eventually
dismantling Israel.
122

The Tunisian Governmentannouncedthe arrestof 23 supportersof the
exiledformerEconomyMinister,AhmedBen Salah, on chargesof distri-
leaflets.
butinganti-Government
March 25: Callingfora "prompt"conveningof the Geneva Middle East
Peace Conference,the Egyptian UN Ambassador told the Security
Council: "The presenttime is propitiousfor initiatingreal progressin
therightdirectiontowardsa genuinepeace and stabilityin our area".
A resolutionintroducedby the Afro-Asianbloc, denyingoccupation

powers such as Israel the rightto make decisionson the water uses in
occupied territories,was accepted at the UN Conferenceon Drinking
Waterin Argentina,by 53 against12 votes.
The SecurityCouncil decided to allow the PLO to participatein the

currentMiddle East debate,on 28 March, withthe same rightsas a full
UN memberstate, includingthe rightto vote. The US voted against
theproposalwhileWest Germany,France,Britainand Canada abstained.
The US Government announcedthattheEgyptianPresident,AnwarSadat,

would visitWashingtonon 4 and 5 April 1977, to conferwithPresident
Carteron the Middle East situation.
Authoritativepolitical sources in Jerusalemtold the Israeli press that:

"The Israeli Governmentis concerned about US President, Jimmy
Carter'sattitudein thecivilrightsquestionbecause this could also have
negativeeffectson Israel".
March 26: In a communiqueissued in Beirut,the conservativeRightist

Lebanese Front insistedthat the Riyadh and Cairo (October 1976) reso-
lutions(definingthe statusof Lebanese-basedPalestinians,whileguaran-
teeingthè sovereigntyand territorial
integrityof Lebanon) should be put
into concreteformin the near future,so as "to dispelall doubtsand pre-
venta renewalof hostilities".
The MENA reportedthat the Egyptian PresidentAnwar Sadat, had

stressedthe necessityof the Palestiniansparticipationin the Geneva
Conferenceas "an originalparty,on the groundsthat the Palestinian
cause is the basis of the Middle East crisis".
The US PresidentJimmyCarter told the press in Washington,that he

was uniquely hopeful for a Middle East peace settlement,this year,
because Arab leaders had given strongindicationsthat they wanted a
substantialagreement.
123

March 27: The Arab League Council whichbegan its session in Cairo,
yesterday,agreed to renew,for anothersix months,the mandateof the
30,000man Arab peace-keepingforcein the Lebanon.
In an interviewbroadcast on CBC television,the PLO leader, Yasser
Arafat,statedthatthe US PresidentJimmyCarter'scall fora Palestinian
homelandwas a step towardspeace in the Middle East.
The Egyptiandaily,Al Ahram,reportedthatJapan and the US had pro-

misedto help financethe multi-million
dollar projectsfordeepeningand
wideningthe Suez Canal.
In an interviewwith the US television,the EgyptianPresident,Anwar

Sadat said: Egypt would not agree to Israeli "defensible"lines that
extendedbeyond the political borders; the USSR had not replenished
Egyptianarms lost in the 1973 Middle East War; since then,Egypthad
soughtarms in the West; Egyptwill need from8 to 10 billion dollars
in creditsbetween 1977 and 1980; during his forthcomingvisits to
Washington,Paris and Bonn he would ask fortechnologicaland financial
aid.
March 28: It was reportedthat Palestinians and Leftistshad called

a trucein South Lebanon, to enable the Lebanese PresidentElias Sarkis,
to end the rightist-leftist
fightingthere.RightistLebanese spokesmen
however,deniedany knowledgeof such a truce.
March 29. The Sudanese Foreign Minister,Mansour Khalid, arrivedin

Cairo fortalkswiththe EgyptianGovernmenton the SudanesePresident,
JaafarNumeiri'sproposal fora unifiedstrategyforthe Arab statesover-
lookingthe Red Sea.
It was reportedthat the UN SecurityCouncil's Middle East debate had

adjourned withoutsettinga date for the next meeting.No resolution
or consensusstatementwas adopted as no agreementcould be reached
on an agreedtext.
March30: The Arab League Council4concluded

its67thsemi-annualsession
in Cairo, extendingthe mandate of the Arab peace-keepingforcein
Lebanon fora second6-monthterm.
April 1: At a press conferencein Jerusalem,the visitingFrench Foreign

Minister,Louis de Guiringuad,said thatFranco-Israelirelations,recently
at an all-timelow,had now returnedto normal.
124

The Israeli ForeignMinister,ShimonPeres, noted withsatisfactionthat
France had departedfromits former"enthusiasticattitudetowardsthe
Palestinianswhichhad borderedon supportforthe PLO".
April2: It was reportedthatlarge-scalefightinghad eruptedin southern

Lebanon, as rightistmilitiamen,allegedlysupportedby Israeli artillery,
pushedahead witha major offensive aimed at capturingthe entireregion
along the frontierwith Israel. Earlier, the Palestinians had refuted
claims of capturingfourleftistPalestinianborderstrongholds.
rightist
The JordanianMonarch,King Hussain,urgeddelay in the reconveningof
the GeneVapeace conferenceto give the Arab statesmore timeto work
out a unifiedstand.
Speakingto reportersduringa briefstopoverat Parison his wayto theUS,

the EgyptianPresident,Anwar Sadat, statedthat US pressureon Israel
was to be concluded.
was vitalif a Middle East peace settlement
April3: In an interviewwiththe Kuwait daily Al Rai, the Kuwaiti De-

fenceand InteriorMinister,SheikhSaad al-Abdullahal-Sabah, disclosed
thathis countryhad signedits firstarmsdeal withthe SovietUnion.
had been killedin
announcedthatfourterrorists
April4: It was officially
clashes withthe police in Teheran.
It was reportedthatEgyptowed $4,000millionin short-term

debtsto the
SovietUnion alone.
The PLO welcomedthe Sovietleader,Leonid Brezhnev'sproposalsforan

early Geneva peace conferenceon the Middle East, with PLO partici-
pation, for the establishmentof an independentPalestinian state "in
agreementwithobjectivetruth".
April5: It was reportedthat, in his final scheduledmeetingwith the

US President,the visitingEgyptianPresident,Anwar Sadat, had raised
theissue of US armsassistanceto his country.
It was reportedthat the visitingTunisian Prime Minister,Hedi Nouira,

had heldtalkswiththe SovietPrimeMinister,AlexeiKosygin,on bilateral
issues and the Middle East situation.
April6: The Cairo semi-official daily Al Ahramreportedthat the US
President,JimmyCarter, had pledged to seek the resumptionof the
Geneva Middle East peace conferencein the second halfof the year.
It was reportedthat a march by ultra-nationalist Israelis in the West
Bank, in supportof the continuationof Israeli presencein the occupied
125

Arab territories,had resultedin an immediateArab counter-demonstra-
tion and strikein Nablus.
April7: At a meetingwith the visitingPLO Chief,Yasser Arafat,the

Soviet CommunistParty Chief,Leonid Brezhnev,said that his country
was "determinedly"in favour of PLO participationin a reconvened
on the Middle East.
Geneva conference
It was reportedthat Palestinianguerrillashad capturedthe rightistheld
townof Khaim in south Lebanon.
Accordingto Riyadh Radio, diplomaticcontactshad been established

betweenthe DemocraticPeople's Republic of (South) Yemen and Saudi
Arabia, with a view to establishingfull diplomaticties and economic
cooperation.
April8: A militarycommanderof the leftistPalestinianforces, Nabil

Moussa, disclosed that Palestinian leaders had ordered the PLO's
commandoforcesin southernLebanon to break up the "securitybelt"
along the borderwithIsrael.
formedby Israel-backedrightists
A US State Departmentspokesmansaid that the US did not expect

thepoliticalturmoilin Israelto have anyeffecton thepace of negotiations
fora comprehensive Middle East settlement.
April9: Israel Radio reportedthatYitzhak Rabin had agreedto runfor

Parliamentin the forthcoming election,despite his announcementre-
his
garding resignation from the post of PrimeMinister.This announce-
mentwas made afteran officialinvestigationwas conductedintoan illegal
US bank accountheld by thePrimeMinisterand his wife.
The.Palestiniannews agencyWAFA reportedthat the SyrianPresident,

Hafiz al-Assad,had held talks withthe PLO Chief, Yasser Arafat,in
Damascus.
April 10: It was reported that Palestinian guerrillasand right-wing

militiamencontinuedto fightartilleryand mortarbattlesnear the Israeli
border,ignoringpoliticalpressurefromSyriato "freeze"the month-long
conflict.
announcedthatIran had signednucleartreaties
April 11: It was officially
withthe US and West Germanyduringan internationalconferenceon
the transfer of nucleartechnology,
currentlybeingheld in southernIran.
April 12: Speaking at a banquet, given in his honour, in Moscow,

the visiting AfghanistanPresident,Mohammad Daud, said that the
126

relationsbetweenhis countryand the USSR "are an important
friendly
factorof peace in our region".
April 14: An officialannouncementin Amman stated that Jordan and

the People's Republic of China had decided to establish diplomatic
relations.
April 16: Accordingto an agreementsigned betweenthe Soviet Union

and Afghanistan,the SovietUnion pledgedto increaseaid to Afghanistan
forthedevelopment and oil, gas and chemicalindustries.
of its agriculture
April 17: Israeli militaryauthoritiesannounced that they had begun

sendingsuppliesto rightist-heldenclavesin south Lebanon, whichwere
now cutofffrombothIsrael and therestof Lebanon.
April 19: In an electioncampaignspeech, the Israel Defence Minister,

ShimonPeres,came out in favourof his countrypresenting its own peace
plan forthe Middle East.
It was reportedthat Israel had exchanged48 Arab prisonersagainstthe
bodies of nine Israeli soldierskilled in the 1973 war and those of two
Israeli agentsexecutedby Egyptin 1955.
April20: The Israel MilitaryCommand disclosed that an Israeli Army

unithad movedinto the occupiedWest Bank of the Jordan,on 19 April,
to set up a new "Zionistsettlement"
there.
April22: In a Soviet-Syrianjoint communiqueissued in Moscow at

the conclusionof the visit of the SyrianPresident,Hafez al-Assad,the
two countriescalled for an earlyresumptionof the Geneva Middle East
peace conferencewiththeparticipation of thePLO.
April23: It was reportedthat fightinghad resumedin Beirut,following

clashes betweenthe Arab peace-keepingtroops implementing the civil
war truceand a Lebanese leftistfaction.
It was officiallyannounced that the Egyptian-SudaneseJointMilitary
High Command had met in Cairo to discussways of increasingand co-
ordinatingmilitarycooperationbetweenthe two countries.
An Israel GovernmentTreasuryspokesmanconfirmed, thata probe was

underwayto verifythe status of over-seasbank accounts held by the
formerIsraeli ForeignMinister,Abba Eban.
April24: In an interviewwith the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, the UAE

President,Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan, called for countries
127

borderingthe PersianGulf regionto take a unifiedstandto defendtheir
security.
April25: Addressinga news conferencein Tokyo, the visitingIranian

AtomicEnergyAuthorityPresidentsaid that his countrywould oppose
attemptsby any nuclearpower,includingthe US, to "dictate"its nuclear
energypolicyto therestof theworld.
April26: In an interviewwith the Lebanese magazine Al-Hawadess ,

Crown Prince Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia reaffirmedthat
his country'seffortsfora just solutionto the Middle East problemwere
based on its ethicsand sense of justice,and the desireof the Arab states
forpeace.
April27: The visitingJordanianMonarch, King Hussein, disclosed in

Washington,that his countrywould enterinto a confederationwith a
futurePalestinianstate,should a new Middle East conferencepropose a
solutionof thiskind.
The SyrianPresidentHafez al-Assad, told the visitingBritishForeign

Secretary,Dr. David Owen, that: the "Syrian position towardsa solu-
tion of the Middle East conflictremainsunchanged"; it was "based on
the principleof completeIsraeli withdrawalfromall the territoriescap-
turedby Israel in the June 1967 war and recognitionof the legitimate
rightsof the people of Palestine."
US officialsdisclosed that PresidentJimmyCarter had approved arms
sales worth$1.6 billion to the Middle East, includingaircraftfor Iran
and Hawk anti-aircraft missilesfor Saudi Arabia.
The Libyan Governmentappealed to the Arab League to convene an
meeting,to deal withthe alleged dangerposed by more
extraordinary
than200,000Egyptianworkersin Libya,manipulatedby a hostileGovern-
mentin Cairo.
April28 : The Cairo dailyAl-Ahramreported,thatthe Soviet Union had

warnedEgyptof the "incalculableconsequencesof a militaryadventure"
againstLibya.
May 1: Accordingto reports,firingand explosions took place at six
places in an area near the heavilypopulated CornichMazraa districtof
WestBeirut.
It was reportedthatmorethan30 personshad died in politicaldisturbances
in Istanbul, whenrivalLeftistgroupsclashedwitheach otherand fought
withthepolice.
128 ч

May 2: It was reported,thatthe head of the PoliticalDepartmentof the
PLO, Farouk Kaddoumi had set forthcertainconditionsforPalestinian
attendanceat a reconvenedGeneva Conferenceon the Middle East.
May 3: Accordingto reports,the leader of the PLO held talks with

Saudi Arabian officialsin Riyadh.
The 10-memberdelegationof Organizationof Arab Petroleum Export-

ing Countries(OAPEC) began a two-daymeetingin Cairo to coordinate
the Organization'sfutureoil policy.
May 4: The US Secretaryof State,CyrusVance, said thatthe US would

propose a Middle East peace plan which would include "all the core
issues".
May 5: The US State Departmentsaid that the US would continueto
giveaid to modernizethe TurkishAir Force.
May 7: The Afghan President's special adviser, Sardar Mohammad

NairnKhan, held talkswiththe Shah of Iran, in Teheran.
would
May 8 : The Israeli Radio reportedthatthe CarterAdministration
not put Israel on a priority
listforarmssupplies.
An Israeli agentconfessedto the polic? in Norway,that he had helped

in an operationto divert200 tonsof uraniumto Israel eightyearsago.
May 9: The US President,JimmyCarter, held taiks with the Syrian

US
Presidentin Geneva on the Middle East issue. Mr Carterconfirmed
supportfor a Palestinian"homeland".
It was reportedthat Kuwait would spend an estimated$1.5 billion,over
thenextfewyears,to modernizeitsarmedforces.
May 11: The US Secretaryof State, CyrusVance, said that his country
to Israel's security.
was committedpoliticallyand militarily
The Greek and the TurkishPrime Ministersdiscussedthe problemof

Cypruswiththe BritishPrimeMinister.
Accordingto reports,Britainand Kuwait had concludedan armsdelivery

agreement.
May 12: Accordingto reports,at least six people were killed and 30
seriouslyinjuredwhen a plant at Saudi Arabia's second-largestoil field
exploded.
Accordingto reports,France intendedto grant a creditof more than
10,000millionfrancsforconstructionof two nuclearplantsin Iran.
129

PresidentCarterof the US, stated at a press conferencethat therewas
no hope forpeace in the Middle East untilthe Palestinianswere givena
homeland.
May 14: The EgyptianForeign Minister,Ismail Fahmi, announcedthat
the Soviet ForeignMinister,Andrei Gromykohad requesteda meeting
withthe EgyptianDeputyPremierand ForeignMinister.
Accordingto reports,Major-GeneralHanna Said, theformerCommander

of the Lebanese Armyhaa resignedfromhis post.
The NorthYemenese ForeignMinisterexpressedhis Government'scon-

cernabout the expulsionof its citizensfromEthiopia.
In a joint statementissued on the conclusionof the visitof theKuwaiti

ForeignMinister,Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed,to Indonesia,both countries
statedthatno lastingpeace could be achievedin the Middle East without
the restorationof the nationalrightsof the Palestinianpeople.
King Khalid of Saudi Arabia and the visitingSultan Qabus of Oman

discussedthe questionof collectivesecurityin the PersianGulf.
The EgyptianPresidentsaid that by removingthe fear of policearrests

in the middleof the night,he had achieved99 per cent of theobjectives
of his reformprogrammeforthe country.
May 15: Accordingto reports,Saudi Arabia had pledgedto meetTurkey's

oil needs.
The ActingIsraeli Prime Minister,ShimonPeres, said that Israel would

not acceptthecreationof a Palestinianstate.
May 16: Accordingto a Kuwaiti weeklyreport,the Soviet Union had

helped King Hussein of Jordanin preventinga militarycoup in his
country,two monthsago.
Farouk Kaddoumi, the head of the PLO's Political Department,urged
PresidentCarterof theUS to spellout his Palestinian"homeland"policy.
The SyrianForeignMinisterarrivedin Kuwaitto brieftheEmirof Kuwait

on the SyrianPresident'stalkswithPresidentCarterof the UnitedStates.
The Lebanese ForeignMinisterdeniedthatthere wereplans for demili-

tarizingsouthernLebanon.
May 17: The OPEC Secretary-General said that OPEC memberswere

to revertto a singleoil pricestructure.
makingefforts
130

The BritishForeignSecretaryin an interviewurgedIsrael to makepeace
withtheArabs.
A two-daymeetingof top militaryleaders of Egypt,Saudi Arabia, the

UAE and Qatar began in Cairo, to discussplans forjoint productionof
arms.
The Presidentand founderof the Arab InternationalBank, Shakirullah

Durrani, said that the Bank had been set up to recycleoil wealth for
the developmentof the Middle Easternand Africancountries.
May 18: Israel's ruling Labour Party was defeatedby the right-wing
Likud oppositionpartyin the generalelections.
PresidentCarter's National SecurityAdviser,Zbigniew Breziznski,said

thatthe US was firmlycommittedto Israel's security.
The Arab MilitaryIndustriesOrganizationapproved the proposal for

establishing Arab factories for manufacturinghelicopters,anti-tank
rocketsand militaryjeeps.
The Israeliright-wing
leader,MenahemBegin;cautionedtheUS President
againsttryingto "impose" a Middle East peace settlement
on Israel.
May 19: Accordingto reports,the Presidentof the UAE had said that
theArabs supportedSudan's efforts
to protectthe securityof the Red Sea.
The UN Secretary-General said that he no longerexpectedthe Geneva

Middle East peace conferenceto be reconvenedthis year,in viewofthe
result of Israeli general elections.
The US Secretaryof State and the Soviet Foreign Ministeragreed that

a Middle East peace conference
be reconvenedthisautumn.
A summitmeetingof the Saudi Arabian King and the Presidentsof

Egyptand Syriabegan in Riyadh,to adopt a concertedArab attitudeto
the Middle East crisis.
The Shah of Iran declaredthat Iran would send its troops to anyAsian
countryfaced witha Zaire-typesituation.
In an interviewto an Iranian newspaper,the EgyptianPresidenthad
givena six-monthultimatumto Israel to pull out fromthe occupiedArab
lands.
In his address to the Islamic Foreign Minister'sConference,the Chief
of the PLO PoliticalDepartmentdescribedthe Israeli Right-wingleader,
Mr Begin,as "a well-known terrorist".
131

May 20: It was reportedthat the Israeli Likud leader, Begin,had said
that as Prime Ministerhe would carryout his Party'spledge to settle
Jewsin the occupiedWest Bank of Jordan.
According to a Radio Kabul report,West Germany would provide

economicassistanceworthabout 20 millionGermanmarksto Afghanistan
for developmentprojects.
May 22: The PLO Chairman,Yasser Arafat,said in an interview,

that
Israel was preparingfora militaryattackon the Arabs.
PresidentCarter said that the US expectedIsrael to honour its agree-

mentsto withdrawfrom all occupied Arab territoriesin exchangefor
peace.
May 23: According to reports, the Egyptian Foreign Minister had

threatenedthatArabs would use the "oil weapon" again "if Israel conti-
nued its aggressionagainstthe Arab states".
The PLO leader, Ýasser Arafat,warnedagainstany attemptsto disarm

the Palestinianresistancemovementin the Lebanon.
The Saudi Arabian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairsannounced at

theeighthIslamicConferenceof ForeignMinisters,thathis countrywould
grant$38.5 millionforprojectsin Muslimcountries.
May 24; Talks began in WashingtonbetweenPresidentCarterof the US

and the visitingSaudi Arabian Premier,Crown PrinceFahd.
May 25: At the end of two-daystalks betweenPresidentCarterand the

visitingSaudi Crown PrinceFahd, it was announcedthat oil would not
be used as a weapon in the Middle East settlement.
May 26: PresidentCarterspelledout threebasic conditionsto a Middle

East settlementwhich included guarantees òn "secure frontiers"for
Israel.
The Arab League announcedthat Arab militaryexpertshad agreed to

establishan advanced war industry.
May 27: The EgyptianForeign Ministersaid that war was the only
to the collapse of Middle East peace efforts.
alternative
Afterthe conclusionof his talkswiththe US Presidentand otherofficials

in Washington, tht Saudi ArabianCrownPrincesaid thathe was optimis-
tic about the chancesfora Middle East settlement.
132

May 28: Talks began at the ministerial
levelbetweenIran and Afghanis-
tan on expandingeconomiccooperationbetweenthetwo countries.
May 29: In an interview publishedin theAmericanmagazine,Newsweek,

PrinceFahd of Saudi Arabia said thatthe Middle East would face "grave
consequences"if Israel refusedto give up occupied Arab territories.
May 30: Israeli forces started shelling Palestinian and progressive

Lebanese positionsin SouthernLebanon.
announcedthatLibya had recalled its Charge d'Affaires

It was officially
from Portugal to protest against the establishmentof diplomatic
relations between Portugal and Israel.
WESTERN EUROPE
March 12: It was reportedthat clashes betweenthe police and students

had occurredin Rome and several other Italian cities.The riots were
touchedoffby the killingof a left-wing medical studentin the city of
Bologna.
The Spanish Governmentextendedan amnestyfor political prisoners,
Basque countrywherepolice
in an attemptto bringcalm to the northern
had clashed violentlywith nationalistdemonstratorsduring the past
threedays.
March 13: It was reportedthat the West German Foreignand Defence

Ministerswould hold talks, in the near future,in Washingtonwith US
Governmentofficials,in order to removethe serious difference
between
the Bonn Governmentand the new US Administration on a number of
issues.
March 16: Diplomatic sources in Bonn said that WestGermanywill

proceed with its 15 billion Mark (£4 billion) nuclear export deal with
Brazil,and that it no longerfeareda serioussplitwiththe US over the
project.The commentswere made after the West German Foreign
Ministerhad returnedhome fromWashingtonafterhis talks with the
US President.
March 17: It was reportedthat in order to normalisethe politicalsitu-

ation, the Spanish Governmenthad grantedworkersthe rightto strike
and had promisedthat termsof a long-awaitedamnestywould soon be
announced.
March 22: The Dutch Prime Minister,Joop Den Uyl, announced his
5-partycoalition Government'sresignationin Parliament,followingthe
133

resignationof all six Catholic and Protestantministersin the centre-left
Cabinet.
March 23: It was reportedthatthe ECM had beguna new seriesof explo-
ratorytalkswiththe People's Republic of China at expertsand technical
levels,witha viewto reachinga tradeagreement.
It was reportedthat as a resultof a politicalbargain with the Liberal
Party,the BritishPrimeMinister,JamesCallaghan,had defeateda parlia-
mentarymotionof no-confidence in his Labour Government.
March 25: Informed sources in Brussels disclosed that Canada will

maintainits deliveryban on uraniumfor Europe, for the time being,
followingthe failureof negotiationsbetweenthe EC Commissionand
Canadian Governmentrepresentatives. The Canadians had demanded
controloverthe usagecycleof all Canadian uraniumdeliveredto European
nuclearinstallations.
March 26: Referringto the inter-community conferenceconveningin

Vienna on 31 March 1977, the Presidentof the TurkishFederatedState
of Cyprus,Rauf Denktash,said that peace must be based on the
equality of the two communities,according to the modalities,which
would not give the Greek side any chance of usurpingthe Turkishcom-
munity'srights.
March 28: It was reportedthat Spain and Mexico had re-establishea
diplomaticrelationsaftera 38-yearbreak, dating back to the Spanish
Civil War.
March 29: The French President,Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, formally

asked Prime MinisterRaymondBarre to forma new Government.The
latterhad submittedhis Government'sresignationto the Presidenta
day earlier.
It was reportedthat Britainhad lifteda year-oldveto to allow the EC
to raise 500 millionunitsof account($ 550 million)in loans to build new
nuclearpower stationsin EEC countries.
March 30: The WestGermanGovernment protestedto Israel forholding

two West German nationalsin secretdetentionon terroristcharges*for
over a year*withoutinforming
Bonn.
Addressingthe German reactorconference,a memberof the Board of

Directors of KraftworkUnion, Germany's largest reactor producer,
said that the countrywas the world's second largestexporterof nuclear
134

had ordersforthe exportof 10 nuclearpower
and currently
installations,
stationswitha totalcapacityof 9,500megawatts.
April 1: In a meetingwiththevisitingPrimeMinisterof theWestGerman

Stateof Baden-Wuettemberg, Hans Filbinger,the Foreign Ministerof the
of
People's Republic China,Huang Hua, called foran "end to theperma-
nentdivisionof Germany";and warnedthatthe SovietUnion was chiefly
a threatto WesternEurope.
The French Socialist Partywas assured by the visitingUS Secretary of

State, Cyrus Vance, that the Carter Administrationwould make no
attemptto influenceevents in France if an alliance of Socialists and
Communists was to come to power.
April2: It was reportedthat the fifthsession of the Cypriotinter-com-

munitytalks had resumedin Vienna underthe Chairmanshipof the UN
Secretary-GeneralKurt Waldheim.
It wns reportedthat the Spanish riot police had brokenup Socialistand

Communistdemonstrations in Madrid.
April4: The Executive Commissionof the European Economic Com-

munity(EEC) approvedsome 566 millionaccountingunits($ 622 million)
in assistancefundsforthe ThirdWorld countries.
The SwedishPrime Minister,ThorbjornFalldin, announcedan immedi-

ate 2-monthpricefreezeto preventinflationresultingfromthe 6 per cent
devaluationof the Kroner.
April7: The Spanish news agency, Cifra, disclosed that the Supreme
Court had declareditselfincompetantto rule on the legalizationof the
SpanishCommunistParty.
April9: Reliable sources in Madrid disclosed that the Spanish Com-

munistPartyhad beenlegalized,thoughtherewas no immediateannounce-
mentby the Government.
Aprii 10: It was reportedthat Ireland's Navy had been put on the alert
to enforcetheRepublic'snew 50-mileunilateralfishinglimit.
April 11: It was reportedthat the political futureof Cyprus remained

even more uncertainthan before followingthe total lack of progress
duringthe recentinter-community negotiationsin Vienna.
April21: The West GermanChancellor,HelmutSchmidt,reaffirmed his
Government'sdetermination to implementits deal with Brazil for the
supply of nuclearpowerstations,includingreprocessing installations.
135

April 22: The officialSpanish Gazette publisheda decreereiteratingthe
Government'sban on participationin politicalactivitiesby militarymen
in the reserve.
includingofficers
April24: The Governmentof Adolfo Saurez announced that Spain's

firstfreeelectionsin 41 yearswould be helo on 15 June1977.
April25: The State Secretaryof the West German Foreign Ministry,

Peter Hermes,said that his country'sintentionto carryout its nuclear
deal with Brazil was an "unmistakableproof" of the importanceit
attachedto its relationswithSouth America.
April26: Speakingat a banquetgivenin honourof thevisitingVietnamese

Prime Minister*Pham Van Dong, in Paris, the FrenchPresident,Valéry
Giscard d'Estaingsaid: "We believethatVietnamshould be able to take
the seat belongingto it in the UnitedNationsas soon as possible".
April28: The Spanish Governmentformallyremoveda ban imposed

on labour unionsin thecountry.
May 5: On his arrivalin London, PresidentCarterof the US said that

veryspecial and preciousrelationsexistedbetweenhis countryand the
UnitedKingdom.
announcedthat France had developeda new device for

It was officially
uraniumenrichment whichcould marka breakthrough in efforts
to avoid
proliferationof nuclearweapons.
May 6: EEC sourcessaid thatPresidentCarterof the UnitedStateshad

approvedthe resumptionof uraniumsupplyto the EEC.
May 9: The FrenchPresidentsaid thatFrance had no intentionto ratify

the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
May 10: A NATO summitmeetingbegan in London with a call by

PresidentCarter of the US to strengthen the Atlanticalliance in the
face of a growingSovietmilitarybuild up in Europe.
May 11: Accordingto a communiqueissued at the end of a two-day

NATO summitmeetingin London, leaders of the participatingstates
asked theirDefence Ministersto initiateand develop a long-termpro-
gramme,to enable NATO forcesto meet the changingdefenceneeds of
the 1980s.
May 14: Accordingto reportsclashes betweenthe Police and the Left-

ists continuedin Rome.
136

May 15: The TurkishCypriotadministration
said thatit had proof that
theGreekCypriotshad plannedto exterminate
the TurkishCypriots.
May 17: The NATO Defence Ministersmeetingat Brussels, agreed to

draw up a prioritiesplan to adapt the NATO's armedforcesto the needs
of the 1980s.
SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE
March 2: In a joint communiqueissued afterthe Romanian President,

Nicolae Ceausescu's visit to Mauritania (during his currenttour of
African countries) Mauritania and Romania supported the idea of
convening of a Third World summitconferenceto establish a new
order.
international
March 21: The Soviet CommunistParty Chief, Leonid Brezhnev,in a

speech beforethe 16thCongressof Soviet Trade Union, accused the US
of interferingin his country'sinternalaffairsand declared that there
could be no development of normalrelationsif it continued.
March 29: The ChiefSoviet delegateto the Russo-Japanesefishery

talks
in Moscow, P.A. Moiseev, warned that his countrywould not permit
Japanese fishermento operate in the USSR's 200-mile fishinglimits
aroundthe 4 Soviet-occupied
Japaneseislandsfrom1 April,unlessa pro-
visionalarrangementwas concludedby then.
April4: Tass news agencyreported,thatthe Cuban leader,Fidel Castro,

had arrivedin Moscow foran unofficial
visitto the USSR.
April 11: The Soviet news agency Tass,reportedthat the Soviet Union
had protestedto France over a recentbomb attack on its Embassy in
Paris.
May 24: Accordingto the Soviet news agency Tass, the Central Com-
mitteeof the CommunistParty of the USSR had removed President
Podgornyfromthe Party'sPolitburo.
May 26: A Sovietplane landed at Stockholmairportafterbeinghijacked.
May 29: The Soviet CommunistParty Chief, Leonid Brezhnev,said

to haltthenucleararmsrace.
thattheUS had stalledefforts
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

March 1: The Canadian Prime Minister,Pierre Trudeau, was reported
to have said in a televisioninterviewon 27 February,that he would not
use forceto keep Quebec in the Canadian confederation if the people of
137

the provincedecideddemocratically
thattheywantedto secedeo but any
to
attempt promote secessionthroughforcewould be metwithforce.
Accordingto reports,US ships and planes patrolled a new 200-mile

fishingzone around the US, in orderto keep out unauthorisedforeign
trawlers.It was also reportedthat,a day before,Cuba had extendedits
own fishinglimitsto 200-milesin replyto America'sextensionand had
zone which
told the US thatit was willingto discussthe new US fishing
coverssectionsoverwhichCuba claimssovereignty.
March 4: The US Foreign Relations Committeedisclosed,that it had

receivedreportsfrom the State Departmenton Human Rights in 80
had requestedmilitaryaid.
countriesforwhichthe administration
Addressinga press conferencein Washington,the US Secretaryof State,

Cyrus Vance, said: he would visit the People's Republic of China this
yearforeconomictalks; the US would soon launch a newjoint initiative
withBritainon the questionof independenceof SouthernRhodesia.
March 7 : It was reportedthatthe Cuban PrimeMinister,Fidel Castro,

had called on theUS to liftthetradeembargoon Cuba, inorderto launch
a new era in relationsbetweenthe two countries.He, however,stressed
thathe would do nothingspecialin returnforsuchaction.
March 9: It was reportedthat the US envoy,WarrenChristopher, had

arrivedin Bonn to discusstheproliferation
of nuclearreactors,specifically
American opposition to the atomic power plant deal between West
Germanyand Brazil.
March 11: The Brazilian Governmentabrogatedits militaryagreement

of 15 March 1952withthe US Government.In a note to the US Govern-
ment,the BrazilianGovernmentlinkedits rejectionof militaryaid to its
displeasureover a report prepared by the Carter Administration for
Congress, which was critical of the human rightssituation in Brazil.
Brazil also released a White Paper reaffirming its intentionto proceed
withthedeal withWestGermanyforthepurchaseof nuclearreactors.
US relationswith some Latin Americanmilitaryregimes were reported

to be worseningbecause the latterwere displeasedby the human rights
stand taken by the Carter Administration. Recently,Argentinahad
rejected$ 15 millionmilitarysales creditsfromthe US, whilstUruguay
had refusedall futureAmerican economic aid, afterWashingtonhad
reducedits assistanceto the two stateson the groundsof allegedhuman
rightsviolations.
138

March 13: It was reportedthatthe US Government had decidedto enter
into negotiationswith the Third World for internationalfinancing,in
order to stabilizekey world commodityprices,a major demand of the
ThirdWorld.
March 14: The US House of Representatives, in compliancewith UN

sanctions,voted to ban the importof chromefrom Rhodesia. It was
also reportedthatPresidentCarter'sAdministrationsupportedthe moves
to repeala legislativeamendmentunderwhichthe US had been importing
theore fromRhodesia,since 1971,in defianceof UN sanctions.
March 16: The US Secretaryof State, Cyrus Vance, announced that

his Governmentwas applyingadditionalcontrolson arms sales to other
countries.He admittedthat the US had dispatchedmilitary supplies
worth $2 millionto Zaire to protectthe copperminesof Shaba province
(formerlyKatanga), but said thatthe US will not send troopsto Zaire.
March 17: In an address beforethe UN General Assembly, President
JimmyCarterof the US declaredthat "no memberof the UN can claim
that mistreatment
of its citizen is solely its own business.Equally, no
membercan avoid its responsibilities to reviewand to speak whentor-
or
ture unwarranteddeprivationof freedomoccurs in any part of the
world."
March 19: The US State Department,in a reportmade public recently,

informedCongressthat human rightswere violated in varyingdegrees
by mostof the 82 countries that received some form of US security
assistance.
March 21: The US Secretaryof State, Cyrus Vance, told newsmenin

Washington,that he hoped his forthcoming talks in Moscow would not
be inhibitedby the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev'sharsh attackon US
humanrightspolicy.
March 23: The US PresidentJimmyCarterannouncedthat the US was

willingto resumenegotiations, or delay,to establish
withoutpreconditions
friendlyand normalrelationswithVietnam.
March 24: The US PresidentJimmyCartertold newsmenin Washington

thattheUS Secretaryof State,Cyrus Vance, would discuss the demili-
tarizationof thetheIndian Ocean, thesituationin Africa,and armsreduc-
tions,withSovietleadersduringhis forthcoming visitto Moscow.
en routeto Moscow, theUS Secretary

March 25: In an airborneinterview
of State,CyrusVance, toldnewsmen,that"the essentials"of an American
139

package deal to limit strategiearms was not negotiable.Accordingto
reportsthe latest proposals worked out by the Carter Administration
substantiallymodify the Vladivostok agreementon Strategic Arms
LimitationTalks (SALT) signed,in 1974, by the Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnevand US PresidentGerald Ford.
March 26: It was reportedthatthe US Secretaryof State, CyrusVance,

had arrivedin Moscow forthe firsttop-levelcontactsbetweenthe Carter
Administrationand the Kremlin.
March 30; The US Government announced that President Jimmy

Carterhad approved $ 2 billion in arms sales to NATO countriesand
otherallies,includingIsrael, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The visitingUS Secretaryof State, CyrusVance, announcedin Moscow

thatthe SovietUnion had rejectedtwo US proposalsfora StrategicArms
Limitation(SALT-2) Agreement.
April6: It was reportedthat the inhabitantsof the resortislands of

Nantucketand Martha'sVineyardhad votedto secedefromthe US state
of Massachusetts,afterthe disclosureof plans to deprivethe islands of
in the Massachusettsstatelegislature.
theirrepresentatives
April8 : In a majorreversalof Americanpolicy,the US President,

Jimmy
Carter,requestedCongressto ban the use of plutoniumas a nuclear
fueland to halt workon the controversial
"fastbreeder"nuclearreactors.
An officialSoviet reportissued afterthe conclusionof the visit of the

Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, announcedthat the Soviet Union had in-
tentionsof buildingan atomicpowerstationin Cuba.
April9: Aftertalks with the visitingUS Senator, George McGovern,

the Cuban President,Fidel Castro, said that a renewalof ties withthe
US would take time,but praisedrecentmovestowardsrapprochement.
April 11: It was reportedthat the US Secretaryóf State, CyrusVance,

had discussedhis recentmissionto Moscow withthehead of thePeople's
Republicof China Liaison officein Washington,Huang Chen.
April 12: It was reportedthe US had, forthe firsttime,invitedthe UN

ColonialismCommitteeto send an investigatory team to assess conditions
in the VirginIslands.
US sourcesdisclosedthat a visitingCongressionaldelegationhad begun

talkswiththeseniorChineseVice President,Li Hsien-nien,in Peking.
140

April 14: It was reportedthat the US President,JimmyCarter, had
withdrawnhis proposal of givingeveryAmericantaxpayera $ 50 tax
rebate.
April 16: The US State Department announced President Carter's

approval of the sale of 6 C-l militarytransportplanes to Sudan, which
had not previouslyrecievedUS militarysupplies.
April27: The US President,JimmyCarter,submittedlegislationto the

Congress which would empower him to impose drastic penalties on
countriesfoundto be violatingagreements
designedto preventthe spread
of nuclearweapons.
April28: It was announcedin Washingtonthat the US and Cuba had

concludedan agreementon fishingregulationsin theiroverlappingmari-
timeboundaries.
April29: The US Assistant Secretaryof State, Richard Holbrooke,

announced that work on the detailed plan for the withdrawalof US
troopsfromSouth Korea would be completedby the middleof 1977.
May 2: The US Presidentstatedin an interviewthat he attached great

importanceto the defenceof humanrightsin Americaas well as in other
countries.
May 4: The formerUS President,Richard Nixon, told David Frost of

BritishTelevisionthathe had let down the Americanpeople.
May 6: PresidentCarterof the UnitedStatesand West GermanChancel-

lor, Helmut Schmdit,held talks in London on their dispute over the
exportof nucleartechnology.
The US Defence Secretarysaid that his countrywould begin talks, in

the near future,withSouth Korea on the withdrawalof Americanground
troopsstationedthere.
May 19: PresidentCarterannouncedthattheUS wouldsendconvention-

al arms to foreignnationsonly when theywere necessaryto American
nationalsecurityor forthe safetyof "our close friends".
May 30: The US State Departmentsaid that the US and Cuba were
discussingthe questionof establishingdiplomaticties.
The Canadian Wheat Board announced the sale of about 110 million
bushelsof wheatto the People's Republicof China.
141

AFRICA
March 1: A conferenceon the independenceof the "territoryof the

Afarsand Issas", the last Frenchcolonyin Africa,began in Paris today.
In a joint communiqueissued in Belgrade,on 28 February,at the con-
clusion of the visit to Yugoslavia by AtnafuAbate, Deputy Chairman
of the Ethiopian MilitaryGovernment,Yugoslavia pledged to assist
Ethiopiato defendits territorial and solve its difficult"internal
integrity
problems".
March 5: Mishake Myongo, Vice Presidentof the South West African
People's Organization(SWAPO), at a meetingof the United Nations
Council for Namibia, called for the conveningof a special sessionofthe
GeneralAssembly,thisyear,on tir questionof Namibia.
AhmedNassir, the head of the EritreanLiberationFront (ELF), stated
that heavy fightingwas continuingat the besieged Ethiopian garrison
town of El-Baret,40 miles northof the Eritreancapital of Asmara,on
the road to Sudan. The ELF was reportedto have asked forrepresenta-
tionat the forthcomingOAU-Arab SummitConference.
March 7: In an interviewwith Time magazine,PresidentJulius Nyerere

of Tanzania said that black Africannationswould seek help frommuch
biggerpowers than Cuba, if the South Africanwhite minorityregime
gave militarybackingto Rhodesia.
March 8: The US Ambassadorto the UN, AndrewYoung, was reported
to have statedin an interviewthat US troops mightbe used as part of
the peace-keepingforcein Rhodesia,but would neverbe sent to combat
in SouthernAfrica.
March 10: According to political observers,as a result of another

border incidentbetween Botswana and Rhodesia, the former might
close its borderswith the latter,and thus cut Rhodesia's main railway
link withSouth Africa.
March 12: The Cuban President,Fidel Castro, arrived in Mogadishu

on his firstofficialvisit to Somalia. He had earlierheld talks in Aden
with South Yemeni leaders.
The Presidentof theUN CouncilforNamibia (South West Africa) stated

thatthe Council would continueto supportthe standtakenby theSouth
West AfricanPeople's Organization(SWAPO), to escalate its guerrilla
war untilindependencewas achievedin Namibia. He said thatthe South
142

Africa Governmenthad rejectedall conditionslaid down by SWAPO
fora constitutional
conferenceon Namibia.
Zaire Radio announcedthat Governmenttroops were "crushingthe in-

vadingforces"that had crossedfromAngola, earlierthis week,and had
occupiedthreetownsin thecopper-rich
Shaba province.
March 14: The UN Decolonization Committee asked the Security

Councilto considersanctionsagainstSouth Africaincludinga mandatory
militaryembargo,if it refusedto withdrawfromNamibia (South West
Africa).
A US State Departmentspokesmansaid that Zaire had requestedmore

"materialassistance"fromthe US, in the wake of a reportedinvasion
by Angola in a border province.It was also reportedthatbesidesfood
and other aid, Zaire had received$ 30.2 million in militaryassistance
fromtheUS.
The BritishForeign Secretary,David Owen, announced that he would

visit SouthernAfricato hold discussionson Rhodesia and South West
Africa(Namibia) "withthose most directlyconcerned."
March 16: PresidentIdi Amin of Uganda accused the US of settingup

a militaryaid base in an Africancountryonly one hour's flightfrom
Uganda.
March 17: Duringthe course of his tour of Africanand Arab countries,
PresidentFidel Castro of Cuba arrivedin Tanzania.
March 18: US President,JimmyCarter,signeda legislationbanningthe

importationof chromefromSouthernRhodesia. He also issued a state-
mentin whichhe urgedthatnegotiationsshould be resumedbetweenthe
head of the whiteminority in Rhodesia,Ian Smith,and black
government
nationalistleaders.
The FrenchForeignMinistryannouncedthatFrance had agreedto speed

up the deliveriesof ammunitionon orderto Zaire.
The Congolese President,Marien Ngouabi, was assassinatedbya suicide
squad.
The Angolan Foreign Ministerwarned France and Belgium regarding

in SouthernZaire.
in developments
the consequencesof theirintervention
of
Diplomatic sources in Kinshasa, reported,that an invading force
formerKatangese gendermes,who had enteredZaire's Shaba province
143

Katanga) fromAngola last week,had capturedthe important
(formerly
townof Kolwezi.
copper-mining
March 19: An officialstatementissued at the conclusionof the Round
Table conferenceon Djiboutiannounced:thatagreement had beenreached
with the "main delegations"of the territory of the Afars and Issas;
generalelectionswouldbe held on 8 May to coincidewithan independence
referendum; theterritorywillbecomeindependent on 27 June1977.
It was reportedthat the European Commissionhad sanctionedfurther

financialassistanceto Africannations throughthe European Develop-
mentFund.
March 21: In a communiqueissued aftertheirsummitmeetingheld in

Niamey (Niger), the heads of state of fiveSahara states(Algeria,Mali,
Niger,Chad and Libya) said that theywould hold annual summitspre-
ceded by Foreign Ministers'meetings.They also agreed to strengthen
relationsand to worktogetherforeconomicindependence.
theirfriendly
The representative of the Chairman of the OAU, Ambassador Radha

Krishna Ramphul of Mauritius,told the UN Security Council that
"SouthernAfricais alreadyat war", and warnedthatthe SouthernAfrica
problem"coula producethe mostseriousinternationalcrisisof thisgene-
ration"if it wereleftunsolved.
March 23: In the firstvisit by a top Soviet officialto black Southern

Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia), the Soviet President,
Nikolai Podgorny,statedat a banquetin Dar-es-Salem that his country
was "on the side of the fightersof freedomand independenceof the
people of SouthernAfrica".
The US Secretaryof St^te,CyrusVance, told a Senate ForeignRelations
Sub-committee that Nigeria had agreed to tryto help end thefighting
in SouthernZaire.
It was reportedthat,in an attemptto crushtheunderground movement

against the regime (allegedly organized by the American CIA), the
Ethiopian militaryauthoritieshad reimposeda massive house-to-house
searchin Addis Ababa, suspendedsinceJanuary1977.
Speaking in the UN SecurityCouncil debate on South Africa, the
of Sierra Leone and Yugoslavia called fora mandatory
representatives
armsembargoagainstSouth Africa.
March 24: Brazzaville Radio, broadcastingin the name of the ruling
11-man MilitaryCommittee,announced the assassinationof Cardinal
144

Emile Biayende,Archbishopof Brazzavilleon 22 March,allegingthatthe
killingwas one ofthe"odious crimes"committedbytheformerCongolese
President,AlphonseMassamba-Debat.
The Congolese National LiberationFront (FLNC) claimed that Zairean
rebelshad capturedthe town of Mutshatshain the South-easternShaba
province (formerlyKatanga).
March 25: Rejectingan invitationof the South West African-convened
constitutionalconference,to participatein the proposed multi-racial
electionsin 1978 in South-WestAfrica,the SWAPO ExecutiveAdminis-
trativeSecretary,Moses Garoeb said: "It is nonsensefor SWAPO to be
invitedto take part in the elections designed to establish a puppet
Government"in Namibia.
À Zaire Governmentspokesmandenieda rebelclaim thatinsurgents haa
capturedthe town of Mutshatsha,and claimed that troopswere holding
theirground against the 1,500 Katangese insurgentsin the Shaba pro-
vince.
It was reportedthat the US, France and Belgium had sent military
suppliesto the Mobutu Governmentin Zaire.
The Sudanese news agency reportedthat Eritreanguerrillashad killed
420 Ethiopiansoldiers,includingtheircommander,when they captured
thenorthernEthiopiantownof Nakfa on 23 March 1977.
An EritreanLiberationFront(ELF) official,Taha MohammedNur, dec-
lared that, since the Eritreansecessionistshad altogetherrecovered80
per cent of theirland fromEthiopiandomination,the rival guerrillafac-
tions should now join forcesbeforesettingup a Government.
March 26: It was officiallyannounced in Brazzaville, that 4 soldiers

and 2 civilianshad been executedfor theirroles in the murdersof the
Congolese PresidentMarien Ngouabi and Cardinal Emile Biayende.A
court martialalso executedthe formerPresident,Alphonse Massemba-
Debat, a day earlier, for his involvementin President Ngouabi's
assassinationon 18 March.
It was reportedthat the Soviet President,N. Podgorny,had arrivedin
Lusaka (Zambia) on the second leg of his three-nation
Africantour.
In a joint communiqueissued in Dar-es-Salam at the conclusionof the

visit of the Soviet PresidentPodgornyto Tanzania, the two countries
affirmed theirresolveto fightcolonialismand racismin Southern Africa.
145

March 27: An officialRhodesian Governmentstatementset forththe
Rhodesian Prime Minister,Ian Smith's conditionsfor acceptingblack
rule in the country.Among other things,he rejectedthe demand for
majorityrule withintwo years. The new termsof the white minority
Governmentwererejectedby the leader of the AfricanNational Council
(ANC) and the UnitedAfricanNational Council.
March 29: Speakingat a banquetin his honourin Maputo, Mozambique,

(duringthe last leg of his Africantour), the visitingSoviet President,
Nikolai Podgorny,declared that his countrystood: "for the immediate
grantingof the inalienable rightsof the SouthernAfricanpeoples to
selfdetermination;forthe liquidationof racismand aparthied in South
Africa and its withdrawalwithoutdelay from Namibia and for the
completeand unconditionaltransference of power to the Zambabwean
(Rhodesian)people".
It was reportedthatthe RhodesianPrimeMinister,Ian Smith,had begun

talkswiththe South AfricanPrimeMinister,JohnYoster,in Cape Town,
on the Rhodesian settlementissue.
The Angolannewsagency,ANGOP, disclosedthatthe RhodesianPatrio-

tic Front leader Joshua Nkomo, the SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma and
the ActingPresidentof the AfricanNational Congress,Oliver Tambo,
had arrivedin Angola, possiblyfor talks with the Cuban leader, Fidel
Castro,who was currently on an officialvisitthere.
March 30: In his annual finance budget, the South African Finance
Minister,Owen Horwood, announcedan increaseof more than 20 per
centin the country'sdefencespendingto meet,whathe called,the Soviet
militarythreat.
March 31: Zairese authoritiesadmittedthat a 5,000-strongforce of

formerKatangese gendarmeswas now only 80 kilometresfromthe key
miningtown of Kolwezi in Zaire's southernShaba (formerlyKatanga)
province.
The Rhodesian Nationalist leader, Joshua Nkomo, accused the white

minorityGovernmentin Salisburyof atrocitiesagainst the black popu-
lation,and warnedof an anti-white
backlashifthe killingscontinued.
It was reportedthatthe 20-years"Treatyof Friendshipand Cooperation"

signedby the Mozambican President,Samora Machet, and the visiting
146

Soviet President,Nikolai Podgorny,called for militarycooperation and
consultationson defencebetweenthe two countries.
April 1: In an Angola-Cubajoint communiqueissued in Lusaka at the

conclusionof thevisitof the Cuban leader Fidel Castro,the two countries
pledgedtheirsupporttq SWAPO, the Patriotic Front, as well as the
AfricanNational Congress(ANC).
Addressingthe AlgerianParliamenton the last stop of his Africantour,

the Cuban leader,Fidel Castro, said: "I have discovereda continentin
themidstof a battleand I have been able to appreciatethepossibilitiesfor
a hardand tenaciousstruggleforliberationwhichcan onlybe victorious".
It was reportedthat a curfewhad been imposedon the Chad capital of

Ndjamena, in the wake of an abortiveattemptto assassinatePresident
Felix Malloum.
It was reportedthat the whiteminorityregimein Rhodesia had relaxed

apartheid,in a numberof measures,whichincludedthe repealingof the
land tenurelegislationreservinghalf of Rhodesia's territory
exclusively
for the whites;the openingof bars, hotels,restaurants,privateschools,
privatehospitalsand clinicsto all races.
The RhodesianHerald reportedthat the boycottof schools in the opera-
tional areas by some 36,000black Rhodesian school childrenhad under-
mined the civil administration.
The conferenceof rival factionsin the Frenchterritoryof the Afarsand

Issas underthe auspices of the OAU, concluded in Accra withan agree-
ment,in principle,on thecreationof a "United PatrioticFront".
In a joint communiqueissued at the conclusionof the visitof the Soviet
President,Nikolai Podgorny,to Mozambique,the two countriesdenounc-
ed racismin southernAfricaas a seriousthreatto worldpeace.
April 3: The officialSoviet news agency Tass, reportedthat the Soviet

President,N. Podgorny,who had made an unexpectedstopover in
Somalia, had left the Somali capital of Mogadishu for home, at the
conclusionof a 12-dayAfricantour.
It was reportedthatthePresidentof thefiveAfricanFrontlineStates had

metin theMozambicancoastaltownofQuelimane,to discussmilitaryand
financialsupportofferedto black liberationmovementsin South Africa
by the Soviet PresidentPodgornyand the Cuban PresidentFidel Castro
duringtheirrecentvisits.
147

Apríl4: Kinshasa Rädio announcedthat Zaire háď severed diplomatic
relationswith Cuba; allegingCuban aid for thé rebel forceswhichhad
invadedthe Zairese provinceof Shaba, fourweeksago.
The Kenya Foreign Ministrydisclosed"that,despite high level talks,

Tanzania was not likelyto*reopen its borderwith Kenya in theforesee-
• - ■*t.■
able future.
April5: IPhe Chaiťmán bf SWAPO¿ Sám N'ujtimö,íevekleďán alleged

secretproposai óf thé South AfricanGovernment Ýor the establishment
of an inteřiťnj^vemméňt in Namibia. Aòcbfáihgťó the proposal, the
whiteminoritygovernÂéntinténdëd to continue' its controlover alť of
Namibia's keyministries,duringrand theestablishmentof a multi-
ajôtçr
racialgovernment.
It was reportedthat a round table conferenceof liberationmovements

accreditedin Algeria opened in Algiers under the auspices of the Pan-
AfricanYouth Movement. : ;
April6: Sudanese newspapers reported that Eritreän inäependence

troops had òaptóed ťwo Ethiopian towns in heavy fightingnear the
Sudaneseborder,earlierthisweek. J '
April7::AfciEritrean'spokesmansaid that Eritřeanforceshad ^routed

thé EthiopianArmy'*ii thewesteíii^párt
bftheproviiice.
April8: A US State Departmentspokesman reiteratedhis country's

pledgé'to supportthépreservation
of theterfitòrial of Zaire.
integrity
A Zaire Govçrnmçptsppkssjnpn .apnoiincedthatMorocco was sending
troops to help Zaire repeal the invasion of its Shaba Province from
Angolá; ktid that militaryequipmentwas being flowninto the country
fròmthe PéóípléVRepüblicÖf Chrna.
April9: The AngolanGovernmentdeniedany Sovietor Cuban military

m Zairè; buf stressedthai it was following
in thé figHtiiig'
invoìvémérit
the'flowòf Wéstéitóäid itìtothatbountry'Vithclose attention.
The Sudanese Radio reportedthatnearly*300Ethiopianshad been killed

and another200 taken prisonersby anti-government forces,when they
cáptuteďthetownof Ašaapetih Eritrea,on 6 April.
April 10: The MiddleEast News AgencyreportedthatEgypthad official-

ly announcedits su^port forthé Moroccon Monarch,King Hàssán II's
decisionto send troopsto aid Zaire.
148

Informedsources in Paris disclosedthat frànte had agreed to provide
air transportfor Moroccon troops being seilt tò bolster Zaire's forces
combattingthereportedinvasionin its Shaba province.
Radio Ethiopiareportedthata memberof the'StandingCommitteeóf the

Ethiopian Provisional MilitaryAdministrativeCouncil, Negassa, had
been assassinatedby "Ethiopiancóuúteťrevolutionaries".
The Middle East News Agencyreportedthat a Sudanese officerand two

soldiershad been killedin an exfchange
óf ¿unfirewith Ethiopiantroops,
'
near the Sudanese bordertownof Al-KaHabat.
April 11: Returningfrom an officialvisit to the People's Republic of

China (PRC), the MauritanianPresident,Moktar Ould Daddah, said
that the PRC was"givingZaire its "unreservéd"support in thè Shaba
'
provincefighting.
On thefirstleg of his tourof southernAfrica',the visitingBritishForeign
Secretary,David Owen, announced wide agreementon the Rhodesiän
issue aftertalks withthe Tanzanian President,JuliusNyerere,in Dar-es-
Salaam.
April 12: A reportpublishedby the UN Committeefor Decolonization

disclosed, that the southernAfrican racist regimes were intensifying
militarypreparationsto preservetheirdominationover theblack majority
populations.
The EgyptiandailyAl-Akhbar stated,thattheinvasionof Zaire by foreign
mercenariesconstituteda directedthieat to the securityof Sudan and
Egypt.
In a broadcastto the nationon France'sinvolvement in Zaire, the French

President,Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, said that French militaryaircraft
wereferrying equipmentto thecentralAfricantiation.
The US State Departmentannounced that the US would grant Zaire

S 13 millionworthof "non-offensive"
militaryequipment.
A spokesmanof the EritreanPeople's Liberation Front in Rome-dis-

closed that guerrillatroopshad capturedthe districtcapital of Nakfa in
northern Eritrea. ,
April 13: The Ethiopianmilitaryregimelodged a protestwiththe OAü

over alleged attacks in the country'ssouthernand westernregions by
Sudanesesoldiers. ,
149

The Sudanese daily,El Sahafa, reportedthat Eritreansecessionistforces
had captured a key Ethiopian militarycamp 70 kilometresfrom the
Eritrean capital of Asmara.
April 14: Hie UN Security,Council stronglycondemned "the act of

armed aggressionperpetrated" againstBenin on 16 January;and called
theymighthave
on all statesto providethe Council withany information
"likelyto throwfurtherlighton those events".
April 15: The South AfricanForeignMinister,Pik Botha, demandedUS

clarificationof a remarkmade by the US Chief UN delegate*Andrew
Young, callingthe South AfricanGovernment"illegitimate".
The Rhodesian EmploymentMinister,Rowan Cronje, announced ex-
to includeall male groupsbetween38 and 50.
panded militaryconscription
not onlywhitesbut also Asians and mixed-racemales.
It affected
April 17: In an interviewwiththe BrusselsnewspaperLa LibreBelgique,

the Zaire President,Mobuto Sese Seko, said that the country'smost
dangerousmomenthad passed: "Now we are reorganized.We are goingto
retake Shaba".
April 19: The BotswanianGovernment,after10 years of independence,

announcedthe build up of a national army,in view of the increasing
numberof borderviolationsby Rhodesiansecurityforces.
FollowingtalkswiththeBritishForeignSecretaryDavid Owen in London,

the leader of the Rhodesian National Council, NdabaningiSithole,said:
the resultof the BritishRhodesianinitiativedepended"completelyon the
whims"of the RhodesianPrimeMinister,Ian Smith.
April20: In a referendumheld earlier this month in Sudan, President

Jaafar Numeri, the sole candidate of the country'sstate party, the
Sudanese SocialistUnion, was re-electçdas Presidentby an overwhelming
majorityof thepopulation.
April21: InformedUS sourcesdisclosed,that the US Governmenthad

to
fundto ease the transition
decidedto setup a $ 100 millioncontingency
an independentNamibia oncetheterritory was setfreeby SouthAfrica.
April23: Speaking at a banquet in Belgrade, the visiting Angolan

President,AgostinhoNeto, condemnedthe "aggressiveracism" existing
in SouthAfrica,Namibia and Zimbabwe.
It was reportedthat the Zaire Foreign Minister,Mgouza Karli Bond,

had arrivedin Khartoum for talks with Sudanese officials,on foreign
150

in the latestdevelopments
powerinvolvement in his country'sprovinceof
Shaba.
It was reportedthatEthiopia'smilitaryleadershad givenall US officials,

exceptEmbassypersonnel,fourdays to leave thecountry.
April24: The Iranian Foreign Minister,Nassir Assad, disclosed that
his countrywas willingto give financialaid to Zaire if any such request
was made.
April25: The EritreanLiberationFrontallegedthatEthiopia had closed

down the six foreignConsulatesin the Eritrea province,to ensure that
therewere no witnessesfora planned "big massacre" of the nationalists.
On 24 April,the EthiopianGovernmenthad orderedthe closureof the
Consulatesof the US, Sudan and Italy,and the HonoraryConsulatesof
Belgium,France and Britain.
The Ethiopian Governmentissued an expulsion order against the re-

presentatives , AgenceFrancePresse (AFP) and The Washington
of Reuters
Post, accusingthemof "distorting
out of all proportionseventsinEthiopia
in generaland theprogressof theon-goingrevolutionof thebroad masses
in particular".
An officialGovernmentspokesman said that Zaire Armytroops, sup-

ported by Moroccan forces, had recapturedthe rebel-heldtown of
Mutshatsha in the Shaba Province.Earlier, on 21 April, combined
Moroccon and Zairese forceshad recapturedthe townof Kapange from
the invading rebel forces.
In a major Cabinet reshuffle,

the Zambian President,Kenneth Kaunda,
dismissedthreeCabinet Ministersforpromotingactivitiesof the banned
UnitedProgressiveParty(UPP) and forabuse of office.
April27: Addis Ababa Radio reportedthat 11 people had been executed

in Ethiopia for committingassassinationsand variousotheranti-revolu-
tionaryacts.
An ArmedForces Ministryspokesmanannouncedin Paris,thata Somali

MIG-17 aircrafthad opened fireon a French submarine-hunter
plane
offthe coast of Djibouti.
April28: The Sudan President,JaafarNumeiri,announcedthat the US

had agreed to sell arms to his country,and that he was also negotiating
withBritain,France,Italy and West Germanyto buy defensiveweapons.
151

It was reportedthatthe AmericanCIA had categoricallydeniedinvolve-
mentin the recruitment of mercenarysoldiersto help Zaire resistan in-
vasion by Katangan exilesfromAngola.
May 1: Accordingto French Foreign Ministrysources,two Frenchmen

had been killed and six arrestedin a Polisario guerrilla raid on the
town of Zouërade, in the WesternSahara.
The EgyptianPresidentdeclared that he would send Egyptianpilpts to

Zaire to help PresidentMobutu fightthe Katangese gendarmesfrom
Angola.
May 2: Zaire announced that it was suspendingdiplomaticrelations

withEast Germany.
Accordingto a" Radio Kampala report,the Ugandan Presidenthad con-

firmedthat he would attendthe CommonwealthPrimeMinister'sconfe-
rence in London in June.
The rebelPrimeMinisterof Rhodesia,Ian Smithgave a warningthatthe

currentBritish-Americàn initiativeto bring about majority rule to
Rhodesia had less chancesof successthan its ill-fatedpredecessor.
May 3: Accordingto a Radio Kampala report,Ugandan armed forces

Tanzania. .
had captured37 invadersfromneighbouring
May 6: The Cuban Presidentsaid that Cuba would defendAngola if

Morocconand Zairean troopsenteredAngola.
announcedin London that Britainand the US were in
It was officially
"fullagreement"on stepsto be takenover Rhodesia.
Accordingto reports,Zaire had recievedfinancialhelp totalling$85 million

fromtheIMF. - ,
The UN Commissionon transnational corporations,in a resolution,call-

ed upon .all transnationalcorporationsto cease immediatelyall further,
investments in SouthernAfrica.
The visitingEthiopian leader,Lt.-ÇolonelMengistu,signeda declaration

fortheestablishmentof friendlyrelationsand cooperationwiththe Soviet
Union.
May 7 : Accordingto the Zairean news agency,Zairean troopsaided by

1,500Moroccon soldiershad recapturedanothertownfromtheKatangan?
rebels.in SouthernZaire and wereadvancingtowardsthe Angolanborder.
152

May &: The MiddleEast NewsiAgenoyreportedtlíàtabout 500 Ethiopian
studentsand youthshad been кЩе^Ьу the Governmenttroopsin Addis
Ababa between 29-30 April.
;
May 9: It,was reportedthat Djibouti w®uldi
be grantedindependenceon
27 Juneby Franceafter115 yearsof colonialrule. • .
In a joiçt icommuniquç
the Soviet,¡Unionand Ethiopiasaid thatcontrólóf
the Red Sea should not be detrimentalto the interestsof international
shipping.The Soviet Union also expressedsolidaritywiththe effortsof
the EthiopianGovernmentin defendingits revolutionary gains
'
May 1Q: An agreementwas signedUnderwhich Somalia would receive
§7.5 millionloan fromthe Islamic DevelopmentBank. ?
May 11; The BritishForeignSecretaryannouncedthat¿'British and an

Americandiplomatwould lead щ. Anglo-American : consultative
group
on Rhodesia.
May 16: The UN Secretary-General accused the whiteminoritygovern-

mentin Rhodesia of acts of aggressionagainstblack states.
PresidentKennethKaunda of Zambia placed the cbuntry'sarmedforces

on alert followingRhodesia's threatto attack "guerrilla,bases" on the
Zambianterritory.
The Somalian Presidentsaid that Somalia would go to wàr against'

Ethiopia if it invaded Afars and Issas (Djibouti) afterthe latterbecame
1
independent.
The Rhodesian forcewhich crossed into Botswana withdrewafterdes-
troyinga BotswahaArmycamp.
May 18: The SecurityForces of Rhodesia announcedthat the Zambian

forceshad launchedà mortarattackon Rhodesia.
The leader of the Chinesedelegationto the UN Conferenceon southern

Africaaccused the SovietUnion and Cuba of aggressionagainstZaire.
PrimeMinisterHasan Gouled of Djibouti said in an interviewthat after

achievingindependence,Djibouti would join the Arab League, OAU
and theUN.
Sudan expelledall Sovietmilitafy

expertsfromitä armedforced.
May 19: Accordingto reports,the Somalian Presidenthad rejected a

Cuban proposalfora confederation
withEthiopia and South Yemen.
153

May 20: The US Vice-President,WalterMondale, warnedSouth Africa
that the US would not interveneto save it fromthe effectsof itsracial
policies.
>announced in Kinshasa that Zairean and Moroccon
It was officially
forceshad recapturedKisenge town.
The UN Secretary-General, in an effortto mediate in the Moroccan-

Algerianconflictover formerSpanish Sahara, met the diplomatsof the
two countries.
May 21: The six-dayUN Conferenceon SouthernAfricaended witha

declarationof an action programmeforthe removalof the whiteregimes
in Rhodesia and Namibia.
Accordingto a Radio Kuwait report,the US had decidedto evacuateits

last militaryinstallationsfromMorocco.
May 22: Accordingto reports,Sudan asked theSovietUnion to cut down

the size of its diplomaticmissionin Khartoum.
May 25: A leader of the Eritreanguerrillagroup disclosedthat Kuwait

had grantedEritreansfood suppliesworth$1 million.
A draft resolutiontabled by Pakistan and others supportedthe UN

appeals to states to grant Botswana materialand
Secretary-General's
financialaid.
Zambian and South Africanforcesexchangedfirein their firstdirect

clash along theirborders.
May 26: Accordingto reportsthe Soviet Union had shippedT-54 tanks

and otherwar materialto Ethiopia.
May 27: Accordingto reports,the pro-Government forcesbacked by

Cubans had recapturedAngola's stateradio fromarmedrebels.
At the start of theirtwo-dayinter-statedefenceand securitymeeting,

the Ministersof Zambia, Tanzania* Mozambique and Angola warned
the Rhodesianand South Africanwhiteregimes,thatan attackon one of
Africanstateswould be consideredan attackon all.
the fivefrontline
May 29: In a joint communiqueissued at the end of a five-dayvisitof

the EgyptianPrime Minister,Egyptand Sudan expressedtheirconcern
in partsof Africa.
over foreigninfiltration
May 30: Accordingto Radio Mozambique, the country'sarmed forces
shotdowntwo Rhodesianaircraftand a helicopter.
154

The KenyanForeignMinisterasked for'Egyptianassistancein persuading
Tanzania to reopenits borderwithKenya. " '
' •
- .Л CÍ. •-f
May 31: The Rhodesian Military Chief said that his forceshad seized
the Mozambique townof Mapai.
. ."t j•
AUSTRALASIA ,
¡ ' 4 iI'■> ,К.,. .. )
April4: The Fiji Prime Minister,Ratu Sir Kamisése Mara, announced
his resignationafterhis Maras Alliance Pärty's defeatin the country's
¡ f .
generalelections.
April7: The GovernorGeneral of the Fiji's, Ratu Sir George Cukobau,

asked the leader of the partydefeated'in the country'sgeneralelections,
PrimeMinister,Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, to Ifermá majoritygovernment.
in
April27: The AustralianPrimeMinister,Malcolm Fraser,announced
into al-
Parliamentthat his Governmentwould conduct,an investigation
undercover in the
activities
leged US CentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA)
V
country.
May 2: The Australian Minister for Trade and Natural Resources,

Douglas Anthony,said thatAustraliasupportedtheUS President'^policy
of preventingnuclear proliferation.
severeregu-
May 24: The Australian Prime Minister announced new
lationsforthe exportof fissionablematerial. •
GENERAL
March 1: Finance Ministersof the Organizationof Petroleum Export-

a decisionto
ing Countries(OPEC) ended theirmeetingin Vienna with
devote800 milliondollars,thisyear,to aid the ThirdWorld countries.
March 16: The UN High Commissionerfor Refugeesmade an appeal

for $18.4 million,in order to continuethe internationalassistancefor
and other
displaced persons from Indochina, mainly in Thailand,
countriesin Asia.
of 116 nations and 10

March 19: It was reportedthat representatives
liberationmovementshad attended,thisweek, the openingof the fourth
session of the Geneva Conferenceaimed at revisingthe International
Conventionon WartimeHuman Rights.During the firstthree sessions,
theConferenceapproveda numberof draft articles to be added to the
1949Geneva Convention.
155

The preparatoryrsubcommittee for the World ¡Conferenceto combat
Racism and Racial Discriminationprovisionally,agreed.thatthe Confe-
renceshpuldbe held,fromI4 to 25 August1978,eitherin Geneva or New
' ' ''
York. _
March 22: A jointstatementissuedbytheCo-Chairmanof theConference
on InternationalEconomicCooperation(North-SouthDialogue)',Mánueř
Perez .Guerreroof Venezuelaand Allan MacEachenr,of Canada, .disclosed
countrieshad fixedtheirfipalministerial}
thatthe 27 pârtiçipating summit
from30 May to 1 Junein Paris, in theirbid to establisha new world,
economicorder.
Marek:25: ;It was reportedth^t,at itsfinalmeçtin^hçld in Mal Der Plata,
Argentina,the.Committeeof the UN Water Conferencehad approved
draftrecommendations on financingof water resources development,
callinggenérâílyforîhcrëasingthe íltíWof functsof developingcountries
'■ , г
through'theUN sysťeínand otherdhàanels.
March 28: Inauguratingthe first meeting of a 54-nation committee
(entrustedwith the task of preparingfor a special session of the UN
General Assembly6n disarmamentin 1978í),.theUN Secretad-General
called foťan end tonuelëarweapons productionand the scrappingof all.
existingstocks,as theonlyway to avoid a nucléàrholocaust.
March 30: FoHowingthe breakdown;of SALT negotiationsin- Moscow,
the US President,JimmyCanrter^ ^med .th^t he would tye,forcedto
of
consideran acceleration US weaponsdevelopment, if the Soviet Union
did not negotiate"in good faith"at the newlyscheduledbargaini*gse&>-.
sipn of thearmslimitationtalks. The talksare scheduledto be held,next
month»betweenthe US Secretaryoi State, CyrusVance, and the Soviet'
ForeignMinister,AndreiGromy|co.
March 31: In his firstspeech as Foreign Ministerof the USSR, Andrei
Groinykô'severëly attackedthe US SALT position contendingthat,the
ÜS proposals were "bne^ídèd"; adding that the issue of US Human
Rightsintervention""does not help solvihg strategicarma limitations:
questions.It aggravated it". He accused the Carter Administration
thç overallprogresstowardsstable Soviet-USrelations.
ofjendangering,
Âpril Í : the Canadian idailyToronto¡Starreportedthat Canada,, the

United Stetes and Austratenhatódecided,щ future,to sell,uraniumex-
ciusiveiytocountriespledgingits pea^ful.utilizfttion. , ,,
The National Advisor to' the: US1 President,PnpfessorZbignjew.
Brezezinski,told newsmenthat the US and the USSRwere "in the,fitstj
156

phase of an ambitiousand fâr-reaching researchfor a firstgenuinearms
limitations." , : ./
Л ¡i
The UN Human RightsCommitteeconcludedits firstsession,afterthe
appointment of a workinggroupto considertheadmissibility of individual
communications receivedregardinghuman rightsviolations.
The recentlyconcluded UN Water,Conference(UNWC) called upon

Governments of UN member-states to give priorityin theirdevelopment
planningto the goal of safewaterand related[Sanitationmeasuresin every
community, by 1990.
April2: It was reportedthat the OPEC nations, with the exceptionof

Gabon and Venezuela, had increasedcrude oil productionin 1976 by
12.4per centover the previousyear.
April3: Followinga meetingwiththeUS Secretaryof Stàte,CyrusVance,

the US PresidentJimmyCartersafd that his country"is determinedto
succeed" in armslimitationtalkswiththe Soviet Union.
It was reportedthatthe UNCTAD talks on a commoncommodityfund

had concludedwithouttangibleresults,beyond an agreementto resume
consultationsat the Ministeriallevel beforeNovembér1977. <
''
A non-governmental US committeewarnedthat the Soviet Union would
have outstrippedthe US in termsof strategiçweapons superiority
in the
nextfewyears.
Officialsourcesdisclosedthatthe Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) would

grantloans worth$582.7 millionfor the developmentof power systems
in severalAsian countries,includingPakistan.
April4: The UN Conferenceon the Successionof States in Respect of

Treatiesheld its inauguralmeetingin Vienna, aimed at the adoption of
a new internationalconventionon the subject.
April5: In his firstpublicspeechsincethebreakdownof the SALT nego-

tiationslast week,.the Soviet CommunistParty Chief,Leonid Brezhnev,
said that the relationsbetweenthe US and the Soviet Union offered1
a "rathergood basis" for limitingstrategicarms; but that the former
shouldnot adopt one-sidedpositionsin the talks.
The chiefYugoslav delegateto the 30-nation disarmamentconference,

Mitos Latovic,disclosedthatthe world'stotal armsexpenditurewas esti-
mated to exceed US $350,000 million.
157

April6: The Executive Sécretaryof the PreparatoryCommission of
the InternationalFund for AgriculturalDevelopment(IFAD), Sartaj
Aziz of Pakistan disclosed that: IFAD operations would reflectnew
developmentstrategiesin favour of the underprivileged,focussed on
economicand social objectives.
The IMF auctionedoff 524,800 ounces of gold at prices rangingfrom

$148.55to $151 an ounce,forits aid fund.
April8: Addressingthe conferenceof Foreign Ministersof the Non-

AlignedCoordinatingBureau in New Delhi, the Iraqi Ministerof State
for Foreign Affairs,Hamed Alwan, warned that continuingdisputes
betweenmemberswould createa loss of credibility
and differences in the
non-aligned movement.
April9: A 24-nationdraftdeclarationsponsored by the ILO stated:

groupingsshouldrespectthesovereignrightsof nations,
thatmultinational
obey laws,and avoid conflict
national withnationalobjectivesand workers'
interests.
April 13: The JapaneseGovernmentofficially denied allegationsby the

US news magazine Newsweekthat the US, the ÜSSR, J^pan, Canada,
Britainand West Germanyhad enteredinto a secretagreementnot to ex-
port any more nuclear reprocessingequipment.The magazine had also
reportedthatthéWest German-Brazil ian and the Franco-Pakistan nuclear
deals wereto remainvalid.
April 15: It was reportedthat delegatesat an internationalconference

on the transferof ftucleartechnology,held in Iran, had rejectedtheUS
President,JimmyCarter'sproposed curbs on uraniumreprocessingand
enrichment technologies.
The Sauai dailyAl-MadinareportedthattheSaudi Government
had grant-
ed 10 millionSaudi riyalsto theIslamicSecretariat.
April 19: The US Secretaryof State, Cyrus Vance^ told newsmenthat

he had discusseda new SALT agreementduringhis recentseriesof mëet-
ingsin WashingtonwiththeSovietAmbassadorAnatölyDobrynin.
Speakingin the UN Economicand Social Council's (ECOSOC) general

debate, theAmericanAmbassadorat the UN* Andrew Young, said: the
Agencycould tackle the problemsof hunger,tortureand racism with
"near unanimity"and withchancesof success.
April20: Under an agreementsigned betweenSenegal and the African
Islamic CoordinationCouncil. Senegal agreed to máké Dakàr the head-
158

quartersof the Organizationand tò grantfull diplomaticimmunityto
Islamicmissions.
April22: The EconomicCommitteeof the ECOSOC recommendedthat:

the role of populationand importanceof populationpolicies in the es-
tablishmentof a new internationaleconomicorder should be integrated
into the policy measuresand targètsset for any new internationalde-
velopmentstrategy.
April25: The UN Economic Commissionfor Western Asia (ECWA)

had decidedto accept the PLO as a fullmember.
April27 : It was reportedthat the visitingVenezuelanPresident,Carlos

Andres Perez, had held talks with the Iranian Monarch, Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlevi,on a compromiseon crude oil price levels of OPEC
countries.
It was officially
announcedthat,followingtalksbetweenthe Saudi Crown
PrinceFahd Ibn Abdul Aziz and the visitingVenezuelanPresidentCarlos
AndresPerez,the two countrieshad agreedto organizeextendedtalkson
the oil pricepolicyof the OPEC countries.
April28 : The OrganizationforEconomicCooperationand Development

(OECD) recentlypublished the first comprehensiveanalysis of the
Group's oil tradeand consumptionpatterns,showinga steadygrowthof
oil consumptionby industrialized
countries.
May 2: Riots on May Day werereportedto have occurredin manycoun-

tries including Spain, West Germany, Greece, Sri Lanka and the
Philippines.
The International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Chairman,

SigvardEcklund,said in Salzburgthatreprocessingnuclearpowerplants
and fast-breederreactois would be indispensablein futurefor many
countries.
Accordingto informedBritishsources,the US, the SovietUnion and 13

othernationshad adjournedtheirsecrettalks in London, untilthe end
of June,withoutreachingfu'l agreementon strengtheningsafeguardsto
preventthe spread of nuclearweapons.
May 3: The UN Secretary-Generalwarned that if developingcountries

continuedto borrowmoneyon the presentscale it would lead to a major
catastrophe.
159

The EEC ForeignMinistersagreedto provide$37 millionaid to deyelop-
ing statesprovidedthe otherindustrialised
nationsalso agreedto paytheir
share;. , '
!f; : r ' ' . .
May 8 ¡ Seven leading industrialpowers US, France, Britain,Canada,
WeštGermany, Italy and Japan, in a joint statement issued aftera two-
dày summit in London, agreed on the need to increasenuclearenergy,
withoutnuclear proliferation. ,
May111: The StrategieArmsLimitationsTalks (SALT) jwereresumed&t

the SovietEmbassyin Geneva betweenthe US and Sovietofficials.
May 14: ForeignMinistersof CENTO metbehindclosed doorsto review

4international
and regionalproblems. ,
May 15: Accordingto reports,eleven membersof the OPEC had de-

cided to drop a 5 per centincreasein oil pricesscheduledto go intoeffect
on 1 July.
May 16: The eighthConferenceof Islamic Foreign Ministersbegan in

Tripoli,Libya. t
Speakingat the inauguralsessionof the eighthIslamic ForeignMinisters

Conference,the Libyanhead of State,Colonel Moammer Gaddafij saia
that the Conferencehad made Musliitíseverywhere feel that theywere
a Significant
forcé.
May 18: Accordingto theLibyannewsagency,theeighthIslamicForeign

MinistersConferencehad decided to send messagesto Egypt,Iran and
Südäh to jòin its currentsessionin the interestof Muslimsolidarity.
Accordingto reports,the US, USSR and 26 othernationshad signeda

pact banningtheářtificalUseof Weather
as a weaponof war.
The Political Commissionof!the Islamic Foreign MinistersConference

decidedto call forscrappingthevetosystemin theUN SecurityCouncil.
May 21: Accordingto a joint communiqueissued at the end of talks

,the US Secretaryof State and the Soviet ForeignMinister,the
between/
US and theUSSR had made some progressin their.talkson a new SALT
agreement.
May 23: The UN Sëcretary-General:said thatfailureto reach an agree-

menton ä code ofSea Law wouldlead to a dangerousscrambleforcontrol
of theoceans and would underminethecredibility
of the UN.
160

May 26: PresidentCarterof the United States said that there were still
wide differences
betweenthe US and the SovietUnion over a new SALT
agreement.
May 28: The RegionalPlanningCouncilof the RCD meetingat Meshed

(Iran) formulateda number proposals for considerationby
the20thsessionof the RCD Councilof Ministers.
May 30: The, North-Southdialpguç, of the de-

representatives
velopedand the developingcountriesbëgan at Paris.
Addressingthe final Ministerialsession oř the North-Southdialogueat

Paris, the UN Secretary-General proposedthe establishmentof a special
institution nationsto
backed by both the oil prödi^cin^anď oil importing
deal,withenergyproblems. q
The InternationalConferenceon Human Rights at Geneva adopted
ail Articledefining
apartheidas à wàr crime.
May 31: It was reportedthatthe Shah of Iran had denouncedthe "riotì-
constructive attitude" of certain nations at the North-Southdialogue
in Paris.
The 20thsessionof theRCD MinisterialCouncil ended with a recom-

mendationthattheRCD protocol;on ttfädeshouldbe signedon 31 October
this year.
161


March-May 1977 PDF

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

March-May 1977 PDF

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Pakistan Institute of International Affairs

CHRONOLOGY March—May 1977

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

March- May 1977

March 1: It was reportedthat in a messagesentto thePrimeMinisterof

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

March 4: The SupremeCourt of Pakistan modifiedthe recentlygiven

The PNA leader, Air Marshal(retd.)AsgharKhan, told a press confer-

The Pakistan Election Commissionissuedthe election procedures for

In accordancewithSection84 of the Representationof the People's Act,

March 6: In an interviewwith the US, Newsand WorldReport, Prime

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

The Pakistan Chief Election Commissionersaid that the Pakistan Elec-

The SecretaryGeneralof the PakistanNational Alliance,RafiquéBajwa,

March 7: General electionsfor the National Assemblyseats were held

A pressnote issuedby the DistrictMagistrateof Sukkurdisclosed:that

Mr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Federal Minister and Chairman, PPP

March 8: Accordingto the final unofficialNationalAssemblygeneral

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

The daily Dawn, Karachi, reportedthat by midnightof 7 March, the

While addressinga press conference, Prime MinisterBhutto denied the

PrimeMinister Bhutto told a press conferencethat Pakistanwould

issued by thePNA SecretaryGeneral,aftera PNA Centrál

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

March 10: Electionswereheld throughout Pakistantoday(second phase

Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the PNA leader, Professor

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

Accordingto an officialpress note issued in Karachi, 200 personshad

The dailyDawn reportedthatthe call fora strikegivenby the opposition

Pressnotesissued by the Governmentsaid that,as a resultof processions

March 12: In a radio-TV broadcast, Prime Minister Bhutto said that

At a press conferenceheld in Lahore, the PNA Chief, Maulana Mufti

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

In Teheran,Foreign Ministersof Iran, Pakistan and Turkeysignedthe

The Soviet daily Pravda, quotingthe Tass correspondentin Islamabad,

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

The PNA Chief, Mufti Mahmud, said that he had recievedPrime

Addressing a press conference,PNA leaders- Sherbaz Khan Mazari,

Under an agreementsignedin Islamabad, the NetherlandsGovernment

Accordingto reports,a numberof processionsana demonstrations were

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

The Lahore High Court Bar Association,in a resolutionadopted at an

According to reports,PNA protest rallies were organized in several

ProfessorGhafoorAhmad,a Jamaat-i-Islami leader,was electedSecretary

Addressinga press conferencein Lahore, the PNA SecretaryGeneral

It was reportedthat the election authoritieshad sealed the record of

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

March 18: The Presidentof Pakistanpromulgatedan Ordinance,which

Addressinga congregationat a local mosque beforeleading a protest

Addressinga press conference,SecretaryGeneral of the PNA, Ghafoor

Accordingto a press note issued by theGovernmentof Sind, demons-

A peacefulprotestrally,whichdemandedthe liftingof Section 144, was

Accordingto a press note issued by the Punjab Government,in several

It was reportedthat Prime MinisterBhutto had thankeda numberof

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:31:08 PM

A militarydelegationfrom Sri Lanka arrived on a goodwill visit to

A Foreign Officespokesmanexpressedgriefand regretof the Pakistan

March 19: Following violent demonstrations,curfew was imposed in

Accordingto reports,on the sixth day of the country-wideagitation

Addressinga press conference,Pakistan's Federal Education Minister,

The PNA Chief,Maulana Mufti Mahmud said: the projectedNational