Pacific Stars and Stripes

NEW DELHI (AP) —The East Pakistani rebel radio claimed Tuesday that a "liberation army" of Bengalis is now 10 miles from Dacca after a 140-mile march from the port city of Chittagong. But the government of President Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan, broadcasting from West Pakistan, insisted that the "situation is under control" in the rebellious eastern half of Pakistan.
The rebel radio for the fourth straight day claimed that the forces of Sheik Mujibur Rahman's Awami League were routing army units throughout the province. Foreign newsmen are barred from East Pakistan, and all dispatches from West Pakistan are subject to strict censorship. The only sources of information are the radio broadcasts and reports brought by persons crossing the border between India and East Pakistan.
Maj. Zia Khan, self-proclaimed head of the provisional government of Bangla Desh, or the Bengali Nation, broadcast another appeal for recognition from other countries."The new democratic government is committed to a policy of nonalignment in international relations/' he said. "It will seek friendship with all nations and strive for international peace."
The United News of India said in a dispatch from the Indian border town of Krishnagar, 50. miles, north of Calcutta, that Awami League sources reported Sheik Mujib's wife and daughter have taken refuge in a foreign consulate in Dacca, the provincial capital. The Pakistani government has claimed that Sheik Mujib has been captured, while the rebel radio says he is still at large and with his supporters.
Indian monitors said Radio Pakistan's station in Dacca was not transmitting Tuesday. The rebel radio, which Indian monitors say is operating from five transmitters in East Pakistan, broadcast a claim that the rebels had blown up the Dacca station. People in Bennapole and other East Pakistani villages bordering India danced in the streets Monday, claiming a major victory for the "liberation forces." The jubilant villagers called themselves "Mujib's volunteers" and chanted "Jai Bangla!" or Victory for Bangla Desh.
Pakistan's border forces, who are mostly Bengalis, have joined the forces of Sheik Mujib and are using their radio equipment to transmit instructions from the Awami League and to keep people posted on developments.