DEAL WITH ANYONE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 July 1943, Page 3

DEAL WITH ANYONE

SAVE MEMBER OF FASCIST PARTY IN ENDING WAR IN ITALY. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.50 a.m.) RUGBY, July 30. At his Press conference, in answer to a question if he is willing to deal with • Marshal Badoqlio, President Roosevelt said he did not care who America dealt with in Italy, so long as it is not with a definite member of the Fascist Party. The first objective of the Allied invasion force, the President said, was to end Italy's armed resistance and prevent anarchy. Peace negotiations might well be with the King, the Prime Minister or the mayor of a town. The Allies were aiding the economic rehabilitation of Sicily and promised similar treatment to Italy. The plight of civilians in Sicily had been relieved mmediately by the Allied forces, which had carried emergency rations. Additional shipments moving to Sicily for the civilian population included sugar, flour, milk, meat, soap, matches, medical supplies and oil for the milling of Sicilian wheat. Public health and sanitation experts had accompanied the troops for the purpose of restoring municipal facilities. General Alexander had freed selected Sicilian prisoners, who would help to put the island back on a livable basis as fast as possible. The President expressed the hope that in the harvest season the Italians in Italy proper, as well as in Sicily, could keep their own crops, instead of sending them to Germany.