The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1967. Aden Power Struggle

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31322, 18 March 1967, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1967. Aden Power Struggle

Acceptance by the Aden terrorist leader, Abdullah Al-Asnag, of full responsibility for the cold-blooded murder of troops and civilians, including women and children, confirms fears felt for the security of this region after the British withdrawal. Britain is due to leave Aden next year, when it will concede the full independence of the Federation of South Arabia, which the State of Aden joined at the beginning of 1963. The present terrorism in Aden is part of a power struggle between two nationalist organisations —the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (F.L.0.5.Y.), and the National Liberation Front (N.L.F.), which claimed responsibility for a week-end of bloodshed in Aden at the end of January. The two organisations, on their own admission, are rivals in evil-doing. They want the British out before preparations can be made for an orderly supervised election a year or more hence. If they fail in that—and Britain will not leave prematurely—they will almost certainly attempt to seize power, possibly with Egyptian support, after the troops have gone. The nationalists are hoping to prevent the reestablishment of federal government in Aden after independence. As the “ Economist ” has commented, the British Government cannot determine the issue, although it will endeavour, with United Nations assistance, to bring about before the withdrawal date some kind of understanding between the Adeni nationalists and the leaders of the federation. At the moment the task seems well-nigh hopeless, as does that of the United Nations mission which will attempt to help South Arabia into independence. The terrorists appear to have a firm grip on Aden. There has been no census for several years, and none has ever been taken in the up-country States. Outside Aden, the “ Economist ” has pointed out, none of the machinery for free elections exists. The quarrel, it says, is an Arab quarrel about which group of Arabs should take over control. ..." The only government “in relative working order is the present one or “something like it”.

The British, it must be assumed, will abide by the letter of their undertaking to withdraw next year. The interim problem is how to avoid a savage trial of strength between the federalists and the nationalists. The federal forces are being built up and reorganised, and the nucleus of an air force is being supplied and trained. Thus military planning including some redisposition of British forces in the Arabian Gulf region, is obviously necessary. A former High Commissioner in Aden, Sir Kennedy Trevaskis, has argued that there should be a British undertaking to defend the federation so long as Egyptian forces remain in the Yemen. Yet the troops in Aden are engaged in a struggle for survival against a ruthless terrorism. No matter what efforts the British may make to ensure political stability after independence, the prospects of a peaceful solution are remote.