ADDIS ABABA TROUBLE

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 366, 22 February 1937, Page 5

ADDIS ABABA TROUBLE

NATIVE RIOTS.

GENERAL WOUNDED.

Hand Grenades Thrown at Italians.

Press Association—Copyright. Rome, February 20.

An official communique states that after the distribution of gifts at churches and mosques at Addis Ababa a section of the crowd threw several hand grenades, slightly wounding Marshal Graziani and seriously wounding General Liotta and several others, including Bishop Circillo, the native bishop of the Coptic Church. It is believed that natives who were rounded up afterwards will be given a spectacular trial to impress the Abyssinians. Those who are found guilty will be shot. A censorship banned the news from Addis Ababa, thus further details of the attempt are lacking. It is believed that the bombs were homemade. The Italians are perturbed at the news, as they have been continually told that Abyssinia welcomed Italian rule.

The British United Press Rome correspondent says that an eminent surgeon has gone to Addis Ababa by air. It is believed that expert aid is essential for General Liotta, who is gravely wounded in the abdomen and leg. General Graziani is seriously wounded in the hand and there is anxiety regarding Bishop Circillo. A message from Shanghai states that because it was showing a Soviet film of the Abyssinian war, ten Italian soldiers fired their revolvers and raided the projecting room of a theatre. They smashed the apparatus and thrashed the two Russian operators, who were sent to hospital.