‘New Soviet bases in Mozambique Channel’

Press, 14 October 1976, Page 9

‘New Soviet bases in Mozambique Channel’

NZPA Bonn The Soviet Union is building naval and air bases tn two small islands in the Mozambique Channel to gain control of shipping routes to Europe and thz United States, according t the West German newspaper, “Bild am Sonntag”. It says, in a dispatch from Johannesburg, that Soviet military experts began construction several months ago

of runways for heavy jet aircraft on the islands of Bazaruto and Benguerua, both about six miles off the coast of Mozambique and 130 miles south of Beira. “Moscow wants to control oil shipments through the channel and around the Cape of Good Hope destined for Europe and the United States, and is also striving for the complete domination of the Marxist State of Mozambique and its natural resources," the newspaper says.

“Although agriculture still dominates Mozambique’s economy, the country also has supplies of coal, bauxite, copper, and iron. “Reconnaisance aircraft have spotted many Soviet warships in the MozambiqueChannel, lying between the mainland and Madagascar. “Inside the country, East Berlin’s People’s Army is building radar and radio' facilities. One of them is located only 17.5 miles from the South African border.”