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Bangla Desh leaders ready for international relief operation if the safeguards are adequate

Inchamati River, on the Indo-Pakistan border, Sept. 23 - The provisional government of Bangla Desh has agreed to support any proposal under which both the Bengali guerrillas and the Pakistan Army would assist and give safeguards for the security of foreign volunteers if a big international relief operation is launched in East Pakistan. The operation would be under the direct control of an independent outside agency.

The provisional government's decision, which was disclosed to The Times by the movement's Foreign Minister, Mr. Moshtaque Ahmed, would appear to raise hopes that an international relief operation could still be conducted alongside the civil war in East Pakistan.

During an interview near the Indo-Pakistan border Mr. Ahmed contradicted allegations that his government was totally opposed to the idea of international relief in East Pakistan because of political considerations.

"On the contrary, I appeal to the world for assistance", he said. "By his actions President Yahya Khan has created a famine, and how can I deny my people food when they are starving? But I do want to be sure that the relief supplies reach my people and not the Army."

However, he went on to declare that his government would support the plan only if relief supplies were distributed direct to the people by an independent international agency. "There are several recognized international agencies, such as the Red Cross, which could distribute food and supplies direct to villages".

"It should be viewed as a humanitarian question... convoys and relief operations could be clearly publicized and vehicles marked. On our side we would instruct our guerrillas to give protection to and assist such an independent agency. Nor would we object to any proposal to import bulk supplies through the major ports, provided we are assured that they are brought in and controlled by the agency itself.

"The United Nations could channel international assistance through this agency, which will not be suspected of political motives. However, we would also insist that we should be consulted in principle."

Mr. Ahmed maintained that the proposals to station a few United Nations relief workers and observers in East Pakistan and to channel food supplies through the Army had been opposed by his government for these reasons.

"In the first place we are fighting the Army for our independence and our struggle will continue. In the circumstances it is obvious that we will continue to ambush army convoys and supply lines, and if the Army is to distribute relief supplies it is obvious that our guerrillas will not be able to tell whether a convoy of food is meant for the Army or for the people.

"Secondly, there is the possibility that the United Nations relief personnel working with the Army will be subject to extreme danger. How will my guerrillas distinguish whether a foreigner is present when they attack any particular army position? The world will not be able to lay the blame on our shoulders."

Then there was the fear that the Army might use relief food for its own troops to relieve the pressures on its strained supply line.

"During the cyclone disaster the international community sent many boats to the area for relief work," he recalled. "They are now being used as gunboats and my people are being killed by donations from the rest of the world."

Mr. Ahmed's advisers said that while food supplies could be distributed by Bengali civilians at village level, the provisional government would want a foreigner stationed at least at every one of the 54 sub-divisional headquarters to supervise the operation.

Mr. Ahmed feels confident that the Bengalis will ultimately win their independence but he was not prepared to say how long the war would continue.

"Please tell the world what we are fighting for. We want to live in peace and honour. We are fighting for survival of our people and our families.

"We didn't want this war. We were not prepared for an armed struggle. All we wanted to do was solve our problems constitutionally and through the democratic process ... But now that war has been waged against us we must fight for our survival."