DISCUSSIONS IN BERLIN

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25590, 3 September 1948, Page 7

DISCUSSIONS IN BERLIN

Governors Meet Again EXPERTS BEGIN WORK (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, September 1. The four Allied Military Governors of Germany met in Berlin again today to continue their discussions on currency and the lifting of the blockTheir conference followed meetings of three groups of four-Power experts assigned to specific tasks by the governors. The experts discussed transport, finance, ana trade. The finance committee, consisting of Sir. Eric Coates (Britain), Mr Jack Bennett (United States), Mr Beaulieu (France), and Mr Maletin (Russia) was required to formulate a single Berlin currency system. , The transport committee included the British and United States DeputyMilitary Governors, Major-Generals Nevil Brownjohn and George Hays, and the chief of the Soviet Military Government’s Transport Division. They discussed the technicalities of lifting the blockade. , , The committees met at the Allied Control Council building where, as elsewhere in Berlin, the Soviet flag flew at half-mast for Mr Andrei Zhdanov. , The meeting of the Allied governors lasted for three hours. Marshal Sokolovsky left the Allied Control Council building immediately, but General Robertson. General Clay, and General Koenig went into a special buffet which the French had prepared. They were laughing, but Marshal Sokolovsky was expressionless. It is announced that another meeting will be held to-morrow. General Clay oh Results After the meeting General Clay said to correspondents: “It is still too early to tell how. the talks are advancing.” Reuter’s correspondent in Berlin §uotes political circles in touch with oviet headquarters as saying that the governors discussed all aspects of the Berlin crisis—currency, administration, and the lifting of the blockade. The four-Power committees on finance, transport, and trade, are expected to finish their work to-morrow and present the governors with definite plans. The governors themselves are expected to reach definite conclusions by September 3, when they will forward their reports to their respective governments. The correspondent adds that his informants said that the Russians did not think that a request for participation 1 by Berlin representatives in the talks would be granted. Berlin’s Deputy-Mayor (Dr. Friedensburg) said earlier that the City Council had decided to ask the military governors to allow Benin representatives to participate in the talks. General Clay’s political adviser, Mr Robert Murphy, who arrived by air from the West German Constituent Assembly at Bonn, entered the conference hall half an hour before to-day’s meeting of the governors ended. The French-licensed German newspaper “Der Kurier ” says that repairs to the railway which is Berlin s lifeline to the West have been completed. The line could now handle both freight and passenger traffic.