Kidnappers rule out secret deals

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 8

Kidnappers rule out secret deals

NZPA-Reuter Rome, The kidnappers of the for-' mer Italian Prime Minister; (Mr Aldo Moro) have re-j jected secret deals with the I Italian Government for. his release, while their hostage! again appealed to the authorities to secure his! freedom. In a message left for reporters in four cities after calls to their newspapers, the Red Brigades guerrillas ruled out secret negotiations. “Nothing must be hidden from the people,” they asserted in their fifth communique since abducting Mr Moro almost four weeks ago and subjecting him to a “people’s trial.” In an eight-page statement with the communique, Mr Moro suggested that Ameri-

can and West German influence might be behind the [Government’s tough line in (refusing to consider bargaining for his release. He also bitterly denounced a fellow Christian Democrat, Paolo Emilio Taviani, for denying that Mr Moro had urged him to take a soft line in an earlier kidnapping. French television said it had received a telephone call purporting to come from Mr Moro’s kidnappers threatening to kill him on Thursday if their demands were not met. A news reader said the cal! was received yesterday morning by the editor-in-chief. Christian Bemadac. The caller said the same message had been sent to several French newspapers, but there was no immediate confirmation of this.