U.K. Minister On Confrontation

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 15

U.K. Minister On Confrontation

(N.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright) SINGAPORE, July 15. The British Secretary of Defence Mr Denis Healey, today expressed disappointment that the Bangkok agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia to end confrontation had still not been ratified.

"We are not out of the wood yet,” he said. “I am as disappointed as many others in the area must be that the Bangkok agreement is still unratified.” Mr Healey added: “It is important in this delicate and slightly uncertain situation that we don’t move so rapidly

that we falsify the assumptions on which our moves are based.” He was speaking to reporters before leaving for London by R.A.F. Comet after a 10-day tour of British forces in the East. Mr Healey said that he had reached a close understanding with the Malaysian Government on the need for the orderly withdrawal of British forces from the positions they now occupied in Sabah and Sarawak once the Bangkok agreement was ratified and implemented. He said Britain had no desire to go on playing a police role on her own in parts of the world where she hoped local peoples would combine for their common security.