ITALY INCREASES ARMS COST

Southland Times, Issue 23796, 19 April 1939, Page 5

ITALY INCREASES ARMS COST

STRONGER FRONTIERS DESIRED ALBANIAN, LIBYAN AND FRENCH BORDERS ROME, April 17. An extraordinary annual appropriation of £5,555,000 for 10 years is announced to “strengthen the Army’s fighting efficiency.” It is reliably stated that it is required mainly on the Albania, Libyan, and French frontiers. The Italian Minister in Albania has been raised to the status of an ambassador. The secretary-general of the Fascist Party (Lieutenant-General Achille Starace) is going to Tirana on April 23 to found a Fascist Party there. The Albanian Army will be represented at a military review in Rome on May 9 and an Albanian regiment is being quartered in Rome permanently. The Albanian Minister in London sent a cable message to the puppet Government at Tirana stating that he refused to recognize a regime and a government formed under the domination of foreigners. A message from Salonika says that an Albanian refugee officer in a fit of rage shot dead the Albanian Consul and then committed suicide.

PALESTINE DECISION EXPECTED SOON EFFECT OF ALBANIA ON ARAB OPINION LONDON, April 17. The Egyptian Ambassador to London has returned from Cairo, where Palestine was again discussed. It is understood that the Italian action in Albania has made a deep impression on the Arab States. Steps are likely to reach a decision on Palestine at the earliest possible moment. The Secretary for the Colonies (Mr Malcolm MacDonald) is expected to make a statement on the subject in the House of Commons soon.