Rebels soften stance

Press, 19 August 1982, Page 8

Rebels soften stance

NZPA Nairobi Scattered shooting had been heard in the capital of the Seychelles early yesterday (last evening, N.Z. time), some of it apparently around the radio station where army rebels say they are holding more than 200 hostages, diplomatic sources said. The sources, contacted, in the Seychelles by telephone, said the shooting began after an overnight lull but said it was impossible to verify where it came from because of a 24-hour curfew. The rebels, who seized control of the station and called for the dismissal of some defence chiefs, had appeared to be softening their demands for direct negotiation of their grievances with President Albert Rene. .

They indicated in a broadcast that they were prepared to negotiate with Ministers, implying that they had dropped demands for direct talks with Mr Rene. The President was re-

ported to have returned to Victoria, the capital, from an outlying island. Two Ministers have been conducting negotiations with the rebels by telephone. The rebels say they are holding 239 hostages, and threatened to kill them if

attacked by loyal troops apparently besieging the seafront radio station. But in broadcasts later the rebels had been less specific about what they might do with their hostages, the sources reported. They said that the rebels had denounced Tanzanian troops sent to reinforce the small Seychelles army in recent years under an agreement between the Gvernment of Dar es Salaam and Mr Rene’s Left-wing Administration.

A large contingent of Tanzanian troops is believed to be based on a hill overlooking the radio station and residents said that the rebels had mortar-bombed the base, The sources said the streets of Victoria, a small, neat town on the waterfront, were deserted except for troops and police.

Journalists who know the radio station said they were sceptical about the number of hostages the rebels claim to have taken. They said 40 people usually work there.