SUKARNO CONFIDENT

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 17

SUKARNO CONFIDENT

(N.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright)

DJAKARTA, Feb. 28. President Sukarno has scoffed at foreign reports that he has been overthrown.

Speaking at a rally in Bandung, where students have agitated against him, he said imperialists were spreading the rumours that he was no longer President.

“I shall not be overthrown because the Indonesian people support me,” he said.

“We will continue to march on till the end of time, holding high the banner of the Indonesian revolution.” President Sukarno said he was confident the Indonesian revolution was the revolution the people desired, and whoever tried to oppose it would be destroyed by it. The revolution had been buffeted since last October's coup attempt, but he was confident it would soon be back on the rails.

In Djakarta, the former Defence Minister (General Nasution) has called on the Indonesian people to support President Sukarno. General Nasution was dis-

missed as Defence Minister and armed forces chief in a Cabinet reshuffle last week by President Sukarno.

He has called on Indonesians to preserve unity between the armed forces, the people and the President, according to Radio Djakarta, monitored in Singapore. General Nasution said this in what the radio described as a “written speech to a conference in West Sumatra." but it did not say when the speech was delivered. He said there were many secret defenders of the abortive October coup who were hindering Government efforts to eradicate remaining coup elements.

At the same time, he said, the Necoliin (neocolonialists, colonialists and imperialists) were launching subversion and psychological warfare to undermine Indonesian unity. The general also called on the people to help alleviate suffering in the social and economic fields. Guards Hurt

Meanwhile, it was disclosed today that four of President Sukarno’s palace guards were seriously wounded by machine-gun fire last Thursday—the day anti-Communist students tried to storm the palace in an attempt to halt changes in the Cabinet. The deputy commander of the wounded men’s regiment said they were travelling in a jeep, when “counter-revolu-tionary elements” opened fire from close range. Forty-two bullet-holes were found in the jeep.

The commander of the guards has warned that any threat to the President will be met with force.

Brigadier-General Mohammed Sabur said in a Radio Djakarta broadcast that his men had taken "firm action" last week, in the face of “student abuse beyond the limits of decency.”