UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., Aug. 10 — Secretary General Thant warned today, that the fate of the East Pakistani leader, Sheik Mujibur Rahman, would “inevitably have repercussions outside the borders of Pakistan.”
The Martial Law Administrator's office in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, announced yesterday that Sheik Mujib would go on trial tomorrow before a special military court for “waging war against Pakistan” and other offenses.
Mr. Thant said he had been receiving expressions of concern about Sheik Mujib, party chief of the separatist Awami League, from many governments every day.
Sheik Mujib was reported to have been arrested by the Pakistani Army after it moved last March to crush the autonomy movement in East Pakistan.
Termed ‘Delicate Matter’
Mr. Thant's statement on Sheik Mujib, issued through spokesmen, said that the Secretary General “feels that it is an extremely sensitive and delicate matter, which falls within the competence of the judicial system of a member state, in this case, Pakistan.”
Although the trial is within Pakistan's jurisdiction, Mr. Thant said, “It is also a matter of extraordinary interest and concern in many quarters, from the humanitarian as well as the political point of view.”
Mr. Thant said that there was a general feeling that the hope of restoring peace and normality in the region was “remote unless some kind of accommodation is reached.”
On July 19 he addressed memorandum to India and Pakistan, noting the danger to peace and security arising from any dissension between them. But that was a case of inter national affairs. In the latest statement he was expressing views on domestic affairs of United Nations member.
In elections last December for a national assembly that would draft a constitution to return Pakistan to civilian rule, the Awami League captured 167 of 313 seats.
Denounced as ‘Traitor’
Sheik Mujib regarded the vote as a mandate to seek a large degree of autonomy for the East, and after talks be tween President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan and Sheik Mujib broke down, the army moved against the autonomy movement. The assembly never convened.
General Yahya, in a nation wide broadcast March 26, denounced Sheik Mujib as a “traitor” who had sought East Pakistani secession from West Pakistan. The two wings of the country are separated by 1,000 miles of Indian territory.
In another development at the United Nations, Britain presented $1.2‐million as part of an over‐all pledge of $2.4‐million for relief efforts for millions of East Pakistanis left destitute by a cyclone last year and by the war. The other part of the pledge will be paid in kind chiefly transport or relief supplies.
Yesterday Secretary of State William P. Rogers presented a check for $1‐million.
The British contribution was presented by the British delegate, Sir Colin Crowe, who said it was given in response to Mr. Thant's appeal June 16 for hid the East Pakistanis.