Portuguese Rebels In Lisbon Gaol

Press, Volume C, Issue 29712, 4 January 1962, Page 12

Portuguese Rebels In Lisbon Gaol

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

LISBON, January 3.

Armed guards yesterday transferred 18 rebels captured after Monday’s attempted seizure of the Beja military barracks from Beja Prison to a Lisbon gaol, the British United Press reported.

The prisoners include 13 who were captured at Beja and five who were attempting to escape by car and were caught at Tavira, south of Beja. One of the prisoners taken at Tavira is reported to be Manuel Serras, who was involved in a plot against the Government two years ago but managed to escape arrest and was tried in his absence. Funeral in Lisbon Reuter reported that thousands of people lined Lisbon’s streets yesterday for the funeral of the Undersecretary of the Army, Lieu-tenant-Colonel Jaime Filipe da Fbnseca, who fell to rebel bullets during the fighting. The Prime Minister (Dr. Salazar) and the whole Cabinet went to the chapel of Estrela Hospital, where the lieutenant-colonel's body had been lying in state. The Portuguese President, Rear-Admiral Tomas, decorated the Under-Secretary posthumously before the funeral with the Order of the Tower and Sword, Portugal’s highest decoration. Portuguese newspapers yesterday described the Beja attack as “a grave attempt against discipline.” The Roman Catholic news-

paper, “A Voz,” said that “without doubt the crime of Beja has many accomplices in the nation.” In an editorial headed “Madness,” it asked: “After what has happened, are the enemies to continue holding strategic position? Are they going to be able to repeat such criminal action?” The Government newspaper, “Diario Da Manha,” asked "whom were the criminals serving? Who was behind such a sinister manoeuvre?” But it gave no answer.

It said: “Any revolutionary adventure now, in view of the international situation, is an attack against the integrity of the nation. “It is not a question of regimes, or of political systems, or of administrative methods— it is the nation itself which is in danger.”