FRANCO’S REPLY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26095, 7 March 1946, Page 7

FRANCO’S REPLY

HANDS OFF ATTITUDE CAN RUN OWN AFFAIRS DEFIANT ANSWER TO ALLIES LONDON, Mar. 5. A State Department official in Washington reported that General Franco, in a Note received 24 hours before the release of the British, American and French declaration, served notice on the United States that he had no intention of leaving office under Allied pressure. The Note vigorously asserted that Spain could run her own affairs without outside intervention. Official French circles were not in the least satisfied with the terms of the joint declaration on General Franco, says Reuter’s Paris correspondent. It is believed that if France alone issued the declaration the terms would have been much stronger. A Government spokesman said he believed the United States initiated the declaration in an attempt to reach a solution of the Spanish question without recourse to the .United Nations. Reuter’s adds that it is reliably reported in Paris to-day that Britain rejected a French proposal that General Franco should be brought before the Security Council. The British view appears to be that the Spanish regime is an internal matter for the Spanish people to decide. Britain has received a blunt “do not meddle ” retort from General Franco in his reply to the joint British, American, and French declaration, says the Exchange Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent. The text of the reply is believed to be similar to that addressed to the United States. Alleged Torture of Women The Spanish Ambassador in Paris told a women’s deputation that allegations that three Spanish women patriots were tortured and sentenced to death were the propaganda of gaolbirds. He added that the trials were open to the public and the press. The women were neither tortured nor sentenced to death. Any press correspondent in Spain was free to write as he wished and to send his story out of the country. The* Ambassador promised to convey to his Government the women’s demands for an open trial of the three women, and the presence of observers from democratic countries with freedom to meet the accused, also uncensored press reports of the trials. After the deputation of women stated they were not impressed by the reply. The Times diplomatic correspondent says that the protest by the Persian Prime Minister, Mr Sultaneh, about the retention of Russian troops in Persia shows that he has been given no hope of an early withdrawal, even if an agreement were reached on other terms for a settlement. It is not known for certain what those other terms are. but it must be expected .that the Russian Government is pressing its former demands—namely, the acknowledgment of full autonomy for Azerbaijan and oil concessions for themselves. The* correspondent adds that all reports agree that Mr Sultaneh has been presented with a stiff bill. • Madrid Radios Questions Madrid radio has charged Britain with carrying the anti-Spanish campaign on to the United Nations world, “because they cannot agree on anything else.” The radio, without direct reference to the British, American, and French declaration, said: “ There does not seem to exist any more urgent problems in the international field for these politicals on the Banks of the Thames. It makes one forget the other questions accumulating unpleasantly on the political horizon—the Russians not evacuating Persia, and not budging from Manchuria. Does not Indonesia, Indo-China,, the Middle East, the Far East, Egypt, and Europe present grave political problems ”? Attacks on Britain Shortly after the Madrid radio’s attack against Britain ended, Moscow radio claimed that the idea of restoring the Monarchy in Spain “ had been brewed in reactionary circles in Britain.” Thfe radio added that it was a British plane in which Don Juan went to Lisbon. The speaker claimed that the Vatican warmly supported restoration of the Monarchy, because with other reactionary circles it did nol want to see a rebirth of the republic. “All these attempts to restore the Monarchy must be resolutely defeated,” concluded the announcer.