ATTACHES HELD

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28269, 6 May 1957, Page 9

ATTACHES HELD

Czechoslovak Action

(New Zealand Press Association) (Rec. 11 p.m.) PRAGUE, May 4.

British and American air attaches were held up -for three hours on Friday by armed Czechoslovak soldiers and photographed in their car near Prague.

The attaches, Group Captain Cedric Masterman and Colonel Daniel Teberg, were surrounded by soldiers while they were driving the car but refused to get out or answer questions put by Czech officers. The British and American Ambassadors received protest Notes about the incident from the Czech Government. Counter protests were made by the Western envoys.

The British diplomats declined to give details of the incident but said they were surprised at protest Notes.

The attaches were detained in a forbidden military zone near Prague in the vicinity of important military objectives, the Czechoslovakia news agency, Ceteka, reported. The Note to the United States Embassy said they were detained “in a clearly demarcated forbidden military zone.’ The Note protested against the activities of the United States attache, and asked the Embassy to take steps to prevent repetition “of these inadmissable occurrences.” The Note to the British Embassy was in similar terms.