DR, French Communist Parties meet Baws “ PF - By FILS DELISLE \ibune Berlin Correspondent ERLIN — The Communist ialist Unity Party have jointly dged to work for the ngthening of the unity and on actions of the world’s unist parties and all anti- Yialist forces. is commitment, which has, \Vious implications for the. in- ational communist move- "lat, was expressed in un- ‘\ivocal terms during an ex- of views here between rges Marchais, General Sec- of the French Communist y, and Erich Honecker, Gen- Secretary of the SUP and irman of the GDR’s State gone. : «.\lso present were Maxime ©. et, a member of the CPF Aitical Bureau, and on the GDR a. Hermann Axen, a member the SUP’s Political Bureau, A Egon Winkelmann, head of SUP’s International Relations partment. it Che meeting took place osten- my during a holiday visit in the \R by Marchais. But the status the participants on both sides 4, Seen as an indication that it 4; much more than a routine or birtesy call. It also followed ro. of France and the GDR’s | some developments during the past few years which had troubled those who believe proletarian internationalism and _ solidarity between the communist parties is an indispensable condition for the maximum progress of the inter- national working class movement and the forces of socialism. _ One such development was the publication in France in 1978 ofa book by a group of communist intellectuals which dealt with re- lations between French Commun- ists and the USSR. The book is inconsistent with the judgments about the USSR made previously by authoritative French Com- munist leaders and by congresses of the CPF. A recent issue of the Soviet weekly on foreign affairs, New Times, carried a refutation of its main points. The Honecker-Marchais meet- ing, However, did not seek a shar- pening of any existing disagree- ments between the two parties. It dealt rather with the’ areas in which they share important common views. Thus, according, to the official GDR news agency report on their discussions, both sides declared that ‘‘the inter- national balance of forces are above all determined by the ad- vance of the forces of peace, of progress and of socialism’’. That ' Pledge to strengthen solidarity ‘and cooperation for common ideals created the preconditions ‘‘for thwarting the policy of aggression of the imperialist forces’’. Honecker and Marchais also agreed that NATO was enlarging 4 7 “plans to hostile to peace’’ and aimed at ‘‘accelerating the arms buildup nd interference in the in- ternal affairs of other states’. That, they declared, made even more extensive counter-actions necessary in the fight for peace. Above all, they ‘‘announced the determination of the SUP and the CPF, in the spirit of the com- mon aims and ideals of the com- munist and workers’ movement, to work for the strengthening of the unity in action of the com- munist parties, as well as of all peace-loving and anti-imperialist forces’’. The two leaders further de- clared they will ‘‘strengthen the solidarity and cooperation’ of their own two parties in the gen- eral fight for ‘‘peace, security, so- cial progress and a happy future for the peoples.”’ The Honecker-Marchais decla- rations obviously represent a re- sounding defeat for all those groupings on the ultra-right and the pseudo-left who have been trying to entice and pressure the ‘French communists into an inter- national anti-GDR bloc. eP\ ' Persecution of Communists | threatens Iraq’s national front “43 AGHDAD — For the past 18 Baths, the Iragi Communist ty (ICP), which has had ance-relations with the ruling n subjected to an increasing Anpaign of persecutions involv- \ the ICP’s organizations, nds and press. e campaign is aimed at re- cting the ICP, isolating its ef- \tiveness and abolishing its in- dependent. role politically, ideologically and organi- zationally. Together with this, the campaign has resulted in a weakening of the role of the Na- tional Patriotic Front.in spite of the limitations that this role had. Despite every effort by the ICP to deal with difficulties in the alliance-relations with the Baath Party, including direct contacts with the ABSP leadership, pro- viding studies, comments and re- ports about various economic and eRN oO , : ' . we ‘or over 12 years Namibia’s patriots led by the South West African ple’s Organization, (SWAPO) have been.waging an armed struggle the liberation of the country from the racist South African Republic. der the control of patriots is a sizable portion of the country in which Rage and medical care teams operate, normal life resumes, and litical work is conducted among the population. social questions, the persecution against the ICP has heightened and reached wider and more vio- lent dimensions: The anti-ICP campaign, carried on by official government departments and the Baath Party apparatus, has included an inten- sive effort to distort ICP positions on major questions, harassment of officers, members and readers of the Party press, electronic surveillance of Party premises, arrests, torture and executions of Communists. ICP documents recently re- leased, including copies of pre- sentations made to the govern- ment and Baath Party leadership, detail cases of tortures and execu- tions of ICP members and sup- porters. Materials include copies of Iraqi laws which provide for the death penalty for a broad range of activities of a political nature which can be widely interpreted and enforced. These provisions are now being used in the cam- paign against the ICP. Despite the persecutions, the ICP in its letter to the government and Baath Party restates its prin- cipled positions and keen desire to work within the Front and calls for an end to the anti-ICP cam-- paign and a strengthening of united actions. The key points of difference concern attitudes toward the Kurdish national question, the Palestine Liberation Organi- zation, a Middle East peace settlement, the Ethiopian revolu- tion, and relations between the ICP and the Communist Party of Israel. ' q i . ao . iF 4 ATHENS — U.S. and European evacuees from Iran gather with thet luggage on their way home. Continued popular demonstrations against the Shah’s regime and the role of foreign corporations in fran have prompted the U.S., Canadian and other governments to begin evacuat- ing its citizens from Iran. In a belated turn-about, the Carter administra- tion said this week the Shah should step down and leave the country in the hope that the “new” civilian cabinet would receive the acceptance ofthe people. This stands in sharp contractto U.S. (and Canadian) vocal support for the Shah only days before. SOMOZA’S RADIO STATION AIRBORNE MANAGUA — Estacion X, the radio station owned by Nicaraguan dictator Somoza, went off the air last week — more correctly, it went up into the air. Security sources said the station was raided by the Sandinista Liberation Front, who set off explosives triggering a blaze which demolished the building. There were no civilian casualties. MORE SETTLEMENTS PLANNED BY ISRAEL TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Begin said last week that his government will establish more Zionist settlements in the occupied West Bank. This intention was stated as Israeli negotiators were preparing to leave for Washington for possible resumption of ‘“peace talks’’ with Egypt. CHINA-U.S. RELATIONS GEARED AGAINST USSR SAYS DIPLOMAT WASHINGTON — Even before the champagne stopped flowing, China’s top official to Washington announced that diplomatic relations with the U.S. were geared against the Soviet Union. Chai Tse-ming, the chief liaison officer in Washington said U.S.-Chinese relations ‘‘will certainly play an active role in combating the expansionism and aggression of hegemonism.”’ ‘“‘Hegemonisn’’ is the Chinese code word for Soviet aid to national liberation movements seeking an end to imperialist and colonialist rule over their people and natural resources. U.S: TO RETAIN BASES IN THE PHILIPPINES MANILA — The Philippine government has signed an agreement which will allow the United States to keep its military bases in the islands for at least five more years. This despite the fact that it has been revealed that the CIA has been involved in covert attempts to under- mine the Marcos government. ONE-TENTH OF PERU’S CHILDREN WILL DIE IN FIRST YEAR LIMA — Carmen Rodriguez du Munoz, president of the organizing committee for the 2nd Peruvian Congress on Child Protection, said that 100 of every 1,000 children born in Peru are destined to die before they are one-year-old, mainly as a result of malnutrition and neglect. CONSPIRACY THEORY CONTINUES OVER KENNEDY DEATH WASHINGTON — A House Assassinations Committee member said last week that the United States Justice Department should pay particular attention to Cuban counter-revolutionaries and crime syndi- cate members in its investigation of the murder of President Kennedy. The Committee said there was a “‘high probability’ of a conspiracy in’ the Kennedy assassination. CARTER THREATENS TO DEPORT IRANIAN STUDENTS WASHINGTON — President Carter, in another expression of his support for Iranian reaction has ordered a crackdown on all foreign students who ‘‘break”’ United States law. Attorney General Griffin Bell said Carter had told him to use his powers to deport every Iranian convicted of causing trouble when young Iranian students de- monstrated outside the Beverly Hills mansion where the Shah’s mother and sister are staying. STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN PERU LIMA — Peru’s military government has declared a state of emergency and arrested over 120 trade union leaders in the face of massive opposition from workers protesting price increases. A 72-hour general strike has been called to protest a 20% increase in gasoline prices. The International Monetary Fund made loans to Peru condi- tional to the government increasing prices and holding down wages. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 19, 1979—Page 9