Cable Briefs

Press, 22 June 1979, Page 5

Cable Briefs

Independence bill The shaky path to independence by the Gilbert Islands has been finally cleared of obstacles when legislation establishing the republic of Kiribati was passed this week by the House of Lords. The independence bill has made two almost complete passages through both Houses of Parliament — the first -being interrupted by the General Election in May —and overcome a sustained campaign of opposition by supporters of the Banabans who want the mined-out phosphate outcrop of Ocean Island separated . from the new republic. The bill was given the Royal Assent by the Queen and the Gilberts will transform themselves into the South Pacific’s second Commonwealth republic on July 12 — joining its nearest neighbour. Nauru, in opting for a presidential system.—London.

Renard for Shah Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, who says he is head of Iran’s revolutionary courts, has offered a 10 million rial ($133,560) reward for the arrest or execution of the exiled Shah of Iran. He said in an interview with the Teheran daily, “Bamdad,” that whoever killed the deposed monarch would receive a hero’s welcome in Iran. He said he had sent a three-man squad to Mexico last week to hunt down the former Shah. — Teheran.

Strike begins A strike by up to 100,000 independent lorry drivers who haul America’s fresh food has begun with the Government unsure how widespread the stoppage would be. A big stoppage could cause serious food shortages and force factories to close. The drivers haul all of the country’s fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats, and much of its steel. Their principal grievance is over diesel fuel w’hich is scarce and rising in price daily. — Washington.

Soldier returns A Fijian soldier serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has been returned home after mysteriously disappearing in an enclave controlled by Israeli-backed militiamen. A Lebanese newspaper has said that LanceCorporal Waga Vakaloloma, aged 21, defected to the Right-wing militias last week because he v,'anted to avenge the deaths of his brother and a close friend in a clash with Palestinian guerrillas earlier this year. But according to the Army in Suva the soldier was abducted by the militia and he escaped in militia uniform by telling lies to the militiamen. — Beirut. S.A.S. trial

Two British soldiers on undercover work in Northern Ireland are alleged to have shot dead a 16-year-oid schoolboy who approached a guerrilla arms cache they were watching. The soldiers, Sergeant Allan Bohan, aged 28, and Corporal Ronald Joseph Temperley, aged 23, are on trial in Belfast charged with murdering the boy. They plead not guilty. The two are members of the British Army’s Special Air Service Regiment, a crack unit used in secret duties against the Provisional Irish Reoublican Army in the British-ruled province. — Belfast.