Cable Briefs

Press, 7 August 1978, Page 8

Cable Briefs

Hiroshima appeal A renewed appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons and one minute’s silent, prayer highlighted the thir-l ty-third anniversay yester-! day of the nuclear destruc-j tion of Hiroshima, western Japan, in 1945. The names of 2179 people, who either had been suffering from the holocaust and died since last August or had died in 1945 but had been confirmed dead only during the last year, were placed in the cenotaph at the park. Although, some 200,000 citizens are believed to have been killed by the nuclear bomb, unleashed from a United States 829 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, at 8.15 a.m. exactly 33 years ago, only 93,595 dead have been officially entombed at the cenotaph so far. More than 370,000 suffer from injuries or after-effects. — Hiroshima. Amin unhurt The Ugandan President (Field-Marshal Idi Amin), competing in a four-day motor rally, has escaped unhurt when his car was involved in an accident while being driven by his junior wife, Sarah. Sarah was President Amin’s co-driver in the rally, staged to mark the sixth anniversary of President Amin’s expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972. The President said that two of his children were hurt, but not seriously. Three of President Amin’s Ministers were among the rally drivers who finished, but the final results were not announced. — Nairobi. Troops boosted Some 500 more British troops are being flown to Northern Ireland in case of a resurgence of violence this week. This week marks the anniversary of the introduction of internment without trial in 1971. It is traditionally one of the most tense periods of the year with Republicans staging protest rallies and parades. The reinforcements will bring British troop strength in the province to almost 14,000. — London. A.S.E.A.N. meeting The Ministerial meeting between the United States and the Association of South-East Asian Nations has opened on a political note, although the agenda was heavy with economic questions. Singapore’s Foreign Minister (Mr Sinnathamby Rajaratnam) emphasised in his opening statement the political and strategic importance of the five A.S.E.A.N. members (Indo-China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand). The American Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance) who presided at the opening session, put the accent on the economic but also mentioned the strategic importance of the United States attached to A.S.E.A.N. — Washington.