DISARMAMENT KEY SEEN “War Without Casualties”

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28541, 21 March 1958, Page 11

DISARMAMENT KEY SEEN “War Without Casualties”

(Rec. 7 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 20. The Indonesians might have hit on the key to world disarmament —a war without casualties, the American Associated Press said today. American observers on the scene of the Indonesian rebellion had reported that, as far as they could see, no blood has been shed in the week-old civil war. Officially, the United States State Department had said: “The situation, is, and has been, quiet for the past several days. “We know of no danger to any Americans anywhere in Sumatra at this time.”

Since last Tuesday, both Government and rebel communiques had claimed casualties, paratroop drops, beachheads, and jungle guerrilla fighting, the American Associated Press reported.

But United States officials said all their reports indicated no casualties. They said they had “heard about” exchanges of gunfire and troop deployments, but no bloodshed.

In a dispatch from Padang, the news agency said it took “a sharp eye” to find the civil war, either in Padang or the revolutionary capital of Bukittinggi. There was little sense of military urgency in Western Sumatra or in B most villages and cities along the main road between Padang and Medan ‘Tew soldiers can be seen. No military security is in evidence anywhere along the key route,** it said.

• “Two Jakarta Government warships that were blockading Padang harbour have not been sighted for the last few days. Some informants believe the ships sailed to East Sumatra, where Medan has become a focal point in the struggle between Jakarta and the Indonesian outer islands. “The situation in that key port city is still vague. Even military officers rely on indirect reports from Jakarta. The Jakarta reports said Government troops control Medan.” said the news agency.