Plans for MiG planes in Ceylon

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32587, 22 April 1971, Page 13

Plans for MiG planes in Ceylon

(N.Z.P.A. -Reuter—Copyright)

COLOMBO, April 21.

Soviet MiG fighters requested by Ceylon would be used in the island’s north central zone where insurgents had taken control of a big Government settlement scheme, informed sources said yesterday.

The majority of the settlers were young and sympathetic to the aims of the youthful “Che Guevarist” insurgents, the sources said.

The fighters would arrive in Ceylon shortly to join Indian and Pakistani helicopters, the sources said. They were unable to say whether Soviet pilots and ground crew would accompany the aircraft, or how many would be sent. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs said that the island had its first battlefree night on Monday of the 15-day-old uprising, and added that it appeared that the insurgents were running out of arms and food. “The terrorists have regrouped in a few pockets and

are avoiding contact with the Armed Services in other areas,” the spokesman said. The island curfew has been relaxed to 6 p.m. to 5.30 a.m., instead of 6 a.m.

The curfew is one of the measures taken under Ceylon’s state of emergency. Troops and police took action against the Left-wing “Che Guevarist” insurgent movement after the Prime Minister (Mrs Sirimavo Ban-, daranaike) reported the existence of a plot to plunge the island into chaos.

Informed sources said yesterday that the Government was considering granting an amnesty to the insurgents. A senior Buddhist leader, Venerable Sir Ineuruwe Bannatissa, asked the Government to grant an amnesty to

commemorate Buddha’s birthday on May 3. An amnesty would save the lives of many misguided youths and stop property being destroyed, he said. Intelligence reports are said to show large desertions from the ranks of the insurgents. A Government statement said that under the emergency regulations no citizen of Ceylon will be allowed to leave the island without an exit permit. Two weeks notice must be given before departure, the statement added.

According to the Associated Press, Ceylon yesterday also tightened censorship of the news media.