Britain’s allies uneasy as Stanley attack awaited

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 1

Britain’s allies uneasy as Stanley attack awaited

NZPA-Reuter London The commander of Britain’s force outside Port Stanley was still biding his time yesterday before ordering an assault to wrest the Falklands capital from its Argentinian garrison. As the tense waiting continued, Britain’s Prime Minister (Mrs Thatcher) was due to return late yesterday from the seven-nation economic summit in France, knowing that many of Britain’s friends and allies are increasingly uneasy about the crisis.

However, she has- emphasised more than once that the commanding officer in the Falklands has full control of the timing of operations, and on the islands, MajorGeneral Jeremy Moore has made clear that he is in no hurry to begin the crucial action.

He has commanded the heights above Port Stanley for six days and his artillery has bombarded Argentinian positions daily, .“softening them up” for an attack. He told a correspondent yesterday: "I will not discuss my timetable for Port Stanley. Keep him guessing, that is good for him ... we will do it in a proper, sensible, well balanced, military way.”

“We have not been attacked from the air for several days,” General Moore said, “It could be connected with the bad weather, or the beating they have taken. They have themselves admitted losing 75 aircraft. “I am tremendously pleased with the way everything is going. We are not behind in our schedule."

No matter how quickly or slowly troops advanced, they still had to bring up logistical support and troops had to be finely balanced, ready for when the final push came, he said.

The possibility of an Argentinian counter-attack had not been ruled out, either from Port Stanley or by a parachute drop from the mainland.

“The Argentinians have aircraft that can drop parachutists but not in any great quantity and not with a great

amount of ammunition and equipment,” he said. An Independent Television News correspondent, Jeremy Hends, reported yesterday that the biggest British artillery barrage since the Korean war could herald the start of the final assault on Port Stanley. The British guns were lined up on the Argentinian positions, which formed a three-sided defence round the Falklands capital.

“All it needs is for the order to be given and the pounding will start,” Hends said.

“The combined firepower will inevitably be as horrifying as it will be effective.” The Argentinians, who had surrendered the high ground round Port Stanley, would be badly placed to hit back. Hends sqid that the main question for the British commanders was what future role would the remnant of the Argentine Air Force play? More than 50 per cent of Argentina’s aircraft were believed to have been shot down, and the British air defence was still fully operational. However, the Argentinian pilots had proved themselves skilful and daring and they were still a big threat. On a hillside near Port Darwin 200 Argentinians killed in the battle for the settlement have been buried. Funeral services were conducted by a chaplain.

Human remains still litter the hills round the settlement, testimony to the ferocity of the battle.

Observers in London said yesterday that while Mrs Thatcher’s hard line on the Falklands crisis had helped her standing at home, numerous cracks had appeared in her international support. Britain’s European partners fear that a humiliating defeat for Argentina could leave deep scars in Buenos Aires and sour European relations with Latin America for years to come.

The United States astonished and dismayed the British Government when it said that it had meant to abstain

in a United Nations vote on the Falklands when it backed a British veto of a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the South Atlantic. In yesterday's press, the “Observer" urged Mrs Thatcher to listen to the voices of Britain’s allies. . "Our main. preoccupation now must be: How do we prevent the consequences of this war ... exploding in the faces of our allies and ourselves?” it said. Every attempt should be made to arrange a negotiated surrender for the Argentinian troops, the newspaper said. In Buenos Aires, the Argentinian Government reacted at the week-end with puzzlement at the United nations Security Council vote. The Foreign Minister, Dr Nicanor Costa Mendez, returning • from the Havana non-aligned meeting and talks with Venezuelan leaders in Caracas, told reporters that he found the situation very confusing and would need more information before making any comment. The official news agancy, Telam, quoting an Argentinian Government spokesman, described the United States vote as a bizarre and politically clumsy decision. Telam said that the spokesman had .reaffirmed Argentina’s profound disgust over United States support for Britain in the Falklands conflict and expressed puzzlement at the last-minute attempt to change a veto for abstention in the vote on a cease-fire resolution. “If they attempted to please both God and the devil, they did not achieve it." the spokesman said. “If that implies a belated recognition of the gravity of their attitude, perhaps there remains some room for reasonable and responsible positions." The Argentinian military high command said yesterday that forces awaiting a British assault on the Falk-

lands capital had strengthened their defences. The high command said in a communique that Argentinian ground batteries had opened deterrent artillery fire on British positions round Port Stanley. There had been no British air activity over the disputed islands. Infantry actions had been confined to patrols, with very little contact with British forces, the high command said. The high command said that the Argentinian hospital ship Bahia Paraiso had met the British hospital ship Uganda and taken aboard 47 wounded Argentinians. The Argentinian vessel was heading for Port Fox

and Port Howard, on West Falkland, to take on more wounded and would then sail to the mainland. A Buenos Aires newspaper, “Clarion,”, quoted military sources as saying that the British offensive had been delayed by supply problems and lack of air cover. Another newspaper. “La Razon,” closely linked to the Army, said that wave after wave of Argentinian aircraft had poured thousands of pounds of bombs on British positions near Port Stanley and the San Carlos beachhead on Friday. The bombing might have been decisive in delaying a British onslaught on Port Stanley, "La Razon” said.