ARRESTED IN SINGAPORE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 114, 27 February 1950, Page 3

ARRESTED IN SINGAPORE

ESCAPED REBEL • LEADER DIPLOMATIC MIXUP LIKELY (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright). (Rec. 10.25) SINGAPORE, Feb. 2G. Captain Westerling rode nonchalantly from South Johore to Singapore in a taxi after landing off the coast of Malaya at night in a Dutch Catalina flying-boat. The flamboyant leader of the rebel “Army of the Heavenly Host” in Indonesia told this story to friends in Singapore before he was arrested early to-day for entering the colony illegally. He said the flight from Indonesia was not authorised officially, but had been arranged by a pilot who belonged to his movement. On the way to Singapqre Captain Westerling was stopped four times by police checking identity cards, but they let him pass when he presented a faked passport. Captain Westerling has expressed anxiety for his wife and three children whom, he says, are in hiding in Indonesia. He is afraid they may hei held as hostages by the Indonesians. The British authorities embarrassed by Captain Westerling’s presence, predict that a diplomatic mix-up will develop over the- question of his future. It is understood that Captain Westerling can claim Dutch nationality, but one high diplomatic source said it was unlikely that the Netherlands Government would “quarrel' with the Indonesian Government over Captain Westerling” if the new republic was genuine about extraditing him, and could prove charges against him. A further complication is that Captain Westerling may have the right to claim British nationality on the grounds that he served in the Bi'itish Army for over four years.