LONDON: British lawyer Peter Benenson, Presi­dent of Amnesty International, claimed yesterday [Feb 26] that the Government’s cable censorship prevented people here from learning that British troops had killed 50 Arabs in Aden last weekend.

Mr Benenson, speaking at a Press conference, also accused the International Commission of Jurists of being indirectly financed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

He told the Press conference that reports in two French newspapers had quoted reliable sources as saying British troops killed about 50 Arabs and injured another 100 during a demonstration in Aden last week.

Britain, however, denied today that the reports of the number of Arabs killed in the demonstration were censored.

A Foreign Office spokesman said there was no censorship of cables from Aden to Britain and the total number of Arabs killed in the demonstrations was nothing like 50.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said “We are not aware of any such incidents,” when asked about the reported deaths. “We have no knowledge of any interference with cables,” he added.

Amnesty International works to free political prisoners throughout the world.

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies in Calcutta,] Mizo Nationalist tribesmen ambushed Indian army, killing one officer and one soldier, reports reaching here from Assam capital Shillong said yesterday [Feb 26].

The security force, returning on Saturday through the Mizo hills to Aijal, the main town of the area, was ambushed some 40 miles northeast of here. Automatic fire was exchanged, but the number of Mizo casualties was not known.

Another report adds: Tension between Khasi tribesmen and the Indian minority in the eastern most Indian state of Assam mounted dangerously over the weekend, reports from Shillong indicated today.

A spokesman for the Assam state Government said 200 “nontribal” families had fled from the outlying regions to Shillong so far, after Khasi threats against them.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2017