Bangladesh rebels hold city after assassination

Press, 1 June 1981, Page 6

Bangladesh rebels hold city after assassination

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi Rebel Army officers who assassinated the Bangladesh President. Mr Zia, in Chittagong on Saturday were still in control of the southern Bangladesh port city yesterday, according to the Press Trust of India.

Bangladesh Radio, monitored in New Delhi, said on Saturday night that the alleged assassins, Major-Gen-eral Manzur Ahmed and four brigadiers of a Chittagongbased Army division, had been dismissed from service. The radio had earlier called on the rebel officers to surrender or face the "sternest steps." Diplomatic reports said that Army units loyal to the Bangladesh Government, which is now headed by the Acting President, Mr Abdus Sattar, had cordoned off Dacca to stop rebel forces from gaining control of the country's capital. Tanks and troops in full battle dress had appeared in the city’s streets and the airports were under the control of Government troops.

The rebel-held Chittagong Radio said that a seven member revolutionary council had been formed ,to govern the country. A spokesman for the council assured the people of providing a "clean and uncorruptible administration

under sovereign authorities.” The rebels were reported to be in control of Chittagong port as well as the airport, the radio station, and part of the Dacca-Chittagong highway.

The P.T.I. said that reliable reports reaching the Indian border town of Agartala on Saturday night had said that sporadic clashes between rebel forces and armed police were still going on in Chittagong and that there had been clashes between rival Army groups in Dacca, in the western Bangladesh town .of Jessore, and in at least two other places.

Serious clashes between troops inside the Dacca Cantonment on Saturday had

resulted in several casualties. Troops loyal to the Government had set up positions on routes leading from southern Bangladesh to check any advance the rebels might make northwards towards Dacca.

According to Bangladesh Radio and other reports reaching New Delhi, the assassins struck at dawn while Mr Zia, aged 45, was sleeping in the official guest house in Chittagong. Mr Zia, who was known for his tireless touring of the country, had been in Chittagong to see for himself how another development project was progressing. One report said that the attackers, armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers, had killed Mr Zia, two aides, and eight bodyguards. Mr Sattar, a former judge who became Vice-President in 1977, took over as Acting President and appealed in a national broadcast for calm. He summoned the nation's military commanders and political leaders for discussions on the situation. Mr Sattar assured that all regional and international treaties and agreements between the Bangladesh Governemnt and foreign governments would remain in force.

But Chittagong Radio said

that the 1972 • friendship treaty between India and Bangladesh stood abrogated. Indian Government sources said that this appeared to indicate that Rightist groups were behind the assassination. An Indian Government spokesman said that there was no question of any direct or indirect Indian involvement in Bangladesh. General. Manzur, aged 40, is an old rival of the late Mr Zia.

He led Bangladesh guerrilla fighters against Pakistani troops before and during the 1971. Indo-Pakistan war which led to the independence of Bangladesh. Soon afterwards he was made military adviser in the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and later returned to Dacca, where he rose to become Chief of the Army General Staff. Indian commentators said that his rivalry with Mr Zia, who also lived in the Dacca Cantonment, was well known, and that Mr Zia had finally moved General Manzur to Chittagong just over a month ago, thinking that he would cause less trouble there. A “Hindustan Times” correspondent, Mr Dipta Sen, said in a report yesterday that General Manzur was known to his colleagues as being strongly pro-Chinese..