Mediation Move Fails— Western Powers Insist On Lifting Of Blockade

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 October 1948, Page 6

Mediation Move Fails— Western Powers Insist On Lifting Of Blockade

LONDON, October 12. It is authoritatively stated in Paris that representatives of the three Western Powers, meeting in Paris, have made it clear that they are not prepared to bargain on the lifting of the Berlin blockade, and that there is no weakening in their claim that the blockade is a threat to the peace and must be lifted before there can be any talk of further negotiations.

The three Western representatives (maintained that the Security Council had no authority to attempt to strike a bargain between the blockade and the Council of Foreign Ministers. A French spokesman said: “The Security Council has no authority to order the Council of Foreign Ministers to meet at any specified date.”

This ends hopes in certain “neutral” quarters that the East and West might be tempted to declare that the lifting of the blockade could coincide With the calling of the Council of Foreign Ministers. It also blasts any hopes Dr. Juan Bramuglia (Argentina) might have entertained of mediating. It is understood that Dr. Bramuglia has told Mr Vyshinsky of the attitude of the Western delegates. The text of the Western Powers’ memorandum has not yet been made public, but it is known to contain roughly the views expressed by various Western spokesman. Security Council experts believe that the Council on Thursday will record its attitude in a resolution which will: (1) note that the restrictions on access to Berlin constitute a major obstacle to direct -negotiations between Russia and the Western Powers;(2) note that these restrictions are a threat to the peace within the meaning of the Charter; and, (3) direct the removal of such obstacles. Rise in Coal Output Sought

“The British and United States Military Governors in Germany, General Sir Brian Robertson and General Lucius Clay, attended a conference of coal industry leaders, and urged German politicians, officials, and industrial and trade union leaders to stimulate coal production, so that Germany could secure a normal economy in the near future,” says Reuter’s Essen correspondent. “General Robertson mentioned plans for delegating more responsibility to the Germans in the running of the Ruhr mines until their ownership is finally decided by a German Government.

“General Clay said that the Western occupation Powers were consid-

ering permitting private foreign investments in German industry* He added that tha future of the Krupp factories at Essen was being review-, ed, with a view to planning employment for Essen’s population in peaceful occupations for the benefit of the German economy.” General Amnesty Ordered “In honour of the centenary of the German Revolution of 1848 the three Western Military Governors have announced a general amnesty for Berliners in the Western sectors serving prison sentences of less than six months,” says Reuter’s Berlin correspondent. “The amnesty affects 600 prisoners, but it does not apply to sentences passed by Allied military courts. “The British Governor (General Sir Brian Robertson), ‘in the interest of good relations between the British and Germans,’ has ordered the release from gaol of a member of the Hamburg City Council, Senator Kurt Masch. A British Military Government Court sentenced Senator Masch to six months’ imprisonment on September 21 for insulting four British girls in bathing costumes on a beach.” British Protest to Russians “The British air controller in Berlin has protested to the. Russian air controller about the alleged ‘buzzing’ by a Yak fighter of a Dakota transport engaged in the Berlin airlift last night,” says Reuter’s Berlin correspondent. “The Yak is said to have looped and rolled round the Dakota, and finally dived 100 feet under the transport’s nose.”