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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22243, 31 January 1947, Page 5

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JEW TERRORIST KIDNAPPERS

NO LET-UP IN SECURITY PLAN RETALIATION FOR DEATH SENTENCES (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (10.30 a.m.) LONDON - , January 30. The Palestine Government to-day issued a statement that plans prepared to transfer certain areas to military control are not being brought into effect at once as the conditions providing for the release of the kidnapped Britons have been fulfilled. This does not imply, the statement adds, an end to security measures by the military authorities, which are being continued. Major H. I. Collins has been able to give valuable clues to the authorities as to the identity of his kidnappers and also as to the situation of the cave-like cell in which he was held captive. _ As a result British troops carried out a thorough search of houses in one area of Jerusalem to-day.

Major Collins was found semi-conscious by a Jewish doctor under a tree in a clinic courtyard wearing only flannel trousers and a badly fitting jacket. He was in a bad physical condition. Blood had dried around his nostrils. He had two black eyes and a bandage across his forehead. He was taken on a stretcher to a Government hospital.

The British United Press correspondent in Jerusalem reports that the Irgun Zvai Leumrs secret radio warned both the Government and the military authorities that the Irgun would in future go into action the moment any of their members was condemned to death without waiting to see "whether there was to be commutation. In Jerusalem All The Time Rueter’s correspondent in Jerusalem says Major Collins told the police that he was pushed out of a taxi in front of the clinic. He added that his captors allowed him to write letters and he did so but he had no proof that they were delivered. He could not eat or read because his mouth and eyes were too badly burned by chlotoform. He had been held in Jerusalem all the time “in something resembling a cave.” His condition is not serious. His face and neck are badly burned by chloroform, which the terrorists used when they kidnapped him. He received no injuries aport from those inflicted at the time cf kidnapping. He had received crude medical treatment from his captors. A statement from the Government hospital says: “Major Collins will recover soon. He is completely conscious. The wound on his forehead is an old one, but was recently stitched. Difficulty Over Arab Plan The London talks on Palestine were continued to-day when the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Ernest Bevin, described Britain’s difficulties in accepting any one of the Arab proposals. The conference was adjourned. The Daily Telegraph’s political correspondent says that if the present London conference on Palestine breaks down, the Government will formulate, a new plan and submit it direct to the United Nations. The Lord Privy Seal, Mr. Arthur Greenwood, said the House of Commons would have an opportunity to-morrow of discussing the recent outrages in Palestine. This discussion will be at the request of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Winston Churchill.