Foreign Interference Alleged By Nigeria

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31773, 2 September 1968, Page 13

Foreign Interference Alleged By Nigeria

JA'.Z P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

LAGOS, September 1.

The Nigerian Federal ruler (Major-General Yakubu Gowon) has confirmed orders for a final military offensive against secessionist Biafra, and has warned European nations to stop their “intervention” in the civil war, now in its fourteenth month.

In a nation-wide broadcast, General Gowon said: “Wei have resolved that we must) now press on with all our! might to defeat the rebels! militarily and remove all traces of the tyranny and I

, terror of the rebel regime i from the face of the country. | “Victory is in sight after : three years of political crisis, I but one of the obstacles facing our nation is continuing I foreign interference. I “Millions of pounds have ' been spent by foreign interI ests in financing the rebellion I against us: enormous quantities of arms have been de- ! livered to the rebels. | “There has also been a (conspiracy, especially in countries of Western Europe, to misrepresent the policies of Federal Government.” For the first time, the Ni- . gerian leader publicly attacked i France for its statement of support for Biafra. “We must

deplore the announcement of | French Government support ! for the rebels,” he said. I On the question of relief supplies for the thousands of I war victims, General Gowon said he would approve the

■ use of a neutral airstrip in ! the Unuahia area. 30 miles ’south of Onitsha, for “mercy” ! flights, but it would be “under ■ controlled conditions’* to pre- • vent arms reaching the Bia- : fran forces led by LieutenantColonel Odumegwu Ojukwu. Peace talks in Addis Ababa ~have been deadlocked because of an imnasse on the issue of . relief supplies to starving people in the war-stricken 11 areas. While the Federal Govern-’ > ment has insisted on a land >’ route from the former Bia- .! fran capital of Enugu, the

secessionists have pressed for airlifts independent of Federal control.