INDONESIAN PROBLEM

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 October 1945, Page 5

INDONESIAN PROBLEM

" DUTCH DISAPPOINTMENT BRITISH ACTION LIMITED / LONDON, October 22. The British and Dutch Governments must work together to find a solution of the Indonesian problem, on ..which there is on fundamentals,” says the Dutch Foreign Minister (Dr. van Kieffens) in a statement in “The Times.” He reiterated that the Netherlands was disappointed at the degree of unreadiness on the part of Britain to deal with the situation, with which the Dutch were prevented from dealing themselves, but he said there was no point in recrimination. The Dutch Government readily recognised all that was healthy in the Indonesian nationalist movement. The Government, however, could not condone excesses which the leader of the outburst seemed unable to control. The vast majority of Indonesians, once .freed from intimidation, would be anxious to co-operate with the Dutch, said Dr. von Kieffens. A fullfledged imperial conference, at which all parts of the Netherlands Kingdom would be represented, would be summoned as soon as possible. A Batavia message says that British and Indian troops have completed the occupation of Samarang and rescued nearly 1000 persons who were locked up by the Indonesians for 10 days. The Indonesian “Minister of Defence” had accepted Major-Gen-eral Hawthorne’s order that all Indonesians except civil police in the British-controlled area must be disarmed, said an Army spokesman. The British forces had the situation at Samarang in hand after three days’ patrolling and skirmishing. Another British brigade would land next Tuesday. Reuter’s correspondent reported yesterday that the position in Batavia was fairly quiet, but early in the morning rifle fire broke out near the Tanabon camp for freed prisoners. There were no casualties. Indonesian extremists in Java have massacred 150 Japanese who were held in the Bula prison in Semarang. Armed criminals responsible for the killings are still in charge in most parts of the town and have erected road blocks.