Arms Discovered By French Soldiers

Chronicle (Levin), 17 November 1947, Page 5

Arms Discovered By French Soldiers

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Received. Sunday, 8,50 p.m, LONDO'N, Nov. 15. Ba?is newspapers reported that 2000. troops with four armoured cars surrouuded a Soviet repatriation camp at Beauregard near Paris after (Severn--meat officers found two cases containing aifout 50 revolvers/ a number of Sten guns and rifles and about a dozen grenades while searching for three French-bom children who were allegealy "kidnapped" hy their Russian-born mothers. The Soviet Embassy is waiting instructions from its Goyernment whether to protest to the French Governinent about the search of the camp. The Embassy;, in a long explanatory statement, said the arms were in bad condition anu practically unusable. It complainea that the French Foreign Alinistrv toia it only twenty minut.es in advanee that a search would be made. The Embassy refused to eonsent to search. The French Foreign Office informed the Russian Ambassador that the French Governmeut intended to close the Russian repatriation camp within hve day,s, says Reuter 's Paris correspondent. Oue ohicial source said the French authorities have felt for a long time that the privilege granted to Russia to establish a camp was being abused. The camj) never enjoved extraterritorial right.^ but gradual'lv became a "closed Soviet area in France." Paris sources link the French action with the general hardening of the Government's attitude towards Russian influence in French afi'airs. The newspaper I'Aurore said Russian born persons had been sent to Russia against their will from the Soviet repat riation camj) at Beauregard. The Communist newspaper l'Humanite said the raicl 011 the camp was designed to create an atmosphere favourable to a rupture of Franco-Soviet relations at the coming Foreign Alinisters' Confertnce in London.