ITALY THREATENS HER NEIGHBOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 192, 14 August 1940, Page 7

ITALY THREATENS HER NEIGHBOURS.

TENSION GROWING. Greece And Yugoslavia Warned Of Demands. United Press Association.—Copyright (Reed. 12.30 p.m.) ROME, Aug. 13. Italian spokesmen have accused Greece of having territorial designs on Albania, and have indicated that Mussolini will sooner or later demand parts of Greek and Yugoslav territory for Albania in a general settlement. The newspaper "Popolo di Roma" reports that an Albanian . Fascist, Leonardo Ciurcovich, was murdered in Italian Dalmatia. Importance is attached to the murder because of a longstanding Italian campaign to separate Dalmatia from Yugoslavia. Virginio Gayda, Mussolini's Press mouthpiece, said Italy expected Greece to answer for its new crimes, and declared that Italy would not tolerate Greece's acts against the independence of Albania. He added that Greece had long been a silent ally and agitator for the democracies, and that from the first day of the war Greece had conducted corrosive action on . the Albanian front. He said Greece had also offered .aid, by the use of its territory, to the British, of whom it was daily a more and more open accomplice. An earlier message stated that the Italian Press .was raising a chorus against Greece,- and Fascist circles were threatening invasion if Greece abandoned her neutrality. Count Ciano was preparing a protest to be forwarded to Athens concerning the beheading of Haut Hoggia, whom the Italians described as the Albanian minority leader in Greece. Relations between Italy and Greece were strained, but reports of imminent military action were declared to be without foundation. The Italians linked the incident with alleged British influences. The Vatican paper, "Osservatore Romano," disputed the -Fascist version of the killing, which, it said, occurred on Greek soil. In one district 5000 Albanians are reported to be under arms, and in another district 3000. Albanians are being urged by their chiefs to flee to the mountains to escape conscription.