Commonwealth Talks Begin

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31881, 8 January 1969, Page 11

Commonwealth Talks Begin

tN.Z.P.t.-Riuter—Copyright) LONDON, Jan. 7. . The British Prime '■ Minister (Mr Harold > Wilson) today form- f, ally welcomed the Government leaders of < the Commonwealth to < their nine-day confer- ! ence in London, during ' which he can expect some sharp attacks on ! British policies. The Presidents and Prime Ministers, representing a quarter of the world’s population on the five continents, assembled this morning in Marlborough House, a Royal palace and now a Commonwealth centre, for their first meeting since September, 1966. African and Asian organisations, mostly students, have organised a series of demonstrations protesting against the developments in Rhodesia, against the Ni-gerian-Biafran war, and against restrictions on the entry into Britain of Commonwealth immigrants. About 100 members of the movement opposed to apartheid last night began a 15hour torch-lit vigil outside

Marlborough House. They, carried banners with slogans | i reading: “No Sell-out to ‘Smith” and "Majority Rule! in Rhodesia." i. Mr John Ennals, chairman of the movement, said the I I conference should reaffirm I 'the pledge given in 1966 that' there would be no independ-1 !ence for Rhodesia before! I African majority rule. ! In the West End of London, chanting Biafrans carried banners calling for an end to the bombing ofßiafra. Their banners proclaimed: “Biafra Is Britain's Belsen.” Two hundred police cordoned off Nigeria House and; prevented an attempt by 1500 Biafrans to break through, i Flaming torches were thrown! in the air and demonstrators danced and sang in the streets. Mr Wilson, as the conference chairman, opened the conference with a speech of ! welcome in which he referred particularly to the five new member-nations Barbados, Mauritius, Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana, all of which have achieved independence from British rule since the 1966 meeting. Prince Makhosini Dlamini, Prime Minister of Swaziland, the youngest member-nation, replied

After that the conference approved its agenda, already! drafted by senior officials from all the delegations, and, then adjourned until this afternoon, when it will tacklel the first subject on /the agenda—the world’s political trends. Each government leader in turn will review the international scene with special reference to problems affecting his own area. This will cover peace prospects in Viet-! nam and the Middle East, the implications of China’s foreign policy, problems of southern Africa, including .apartheid, and developments jin the Caribbean. i The Rhodesia issue, which ; will be debated on Thursday,

is expected to generate the most heat of the conference, African and Asian leaders opposing Mr Wilson's terms for a settlement of the three-year-oid dispute. Commonwealth immigration—and, specifically, the British curbs on admissions —and proposals for ending the Nigerian-Biafran war are likely to figure in behind-the-scenes consultations among the delegations most closely I concerned.