A Boost Before the Talks

On the eve of peace talks scheduled for Addis Ababa this week, Nigerian federal forces launched a fresh drive against secessionist Biafra. From north and south, the federals were last week pushing toward the center of the breakaway state, determined either to finish off Lieut. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu's regime or at least improve their bargaining position for the talks.

Once again, thousands of civilians took to the roads and the bush, fleeing before the new offensive, and towns like Aba, Owerri and Umuahia were choked with the homeless, the destitute and the starving. Yet somehow the Biafrans continued to hold on against superior forces and firepower, training with sticks, fighting back with the motley array of weapons they have managed to pick up from European arms markets in recent months. They fared less well on another front: there was still no agreement on relief measures for starving Biafrans. As a result, hundreds, perhaps thousands died every day, and their plight reached even into the U.S. presidential campaign. Senator Eugene McCarthy charged that the Administration had contented itself with "vain and futile gestures" in the Nigerian crisis and called on President Johnson to ask the United Nations for a "mandatory relief airlift of mercy." Hubert Humphrey said the U.S. should support any U.N. effort to move in supplies.

Still, Ojukwu's regime had some reason to take heart, even though the federal vise was tightening: in the midst of the renewed fighting it received an unexpected boost from President Charles de Gaulle. In a communique, the French government declared that the conflict should be settled "on the basis of the right of peoples to govern themselves"--the first such commitment favoring Biafra by a European nation. "This strengthens our hand at Addis," exclaimed Biafran Information Minister Ifegwu Eke. "And if the talks break down, our African friends will be prepared to take the issue to the United Nations." Only four African nations--Zambia, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Gabon--have so far recognized Biafra. But it is entirely possible that the French declaration may move former French colonies in Africa into a similar pro-Biafran stance.

To further strengthen Biafra's hand in Addis, Ojukwu unilaterally declared a cease-fire while the talks are in progress: the Biafrans would launch no new attacks and only fire when fired upon. With the Nigerians aggressively on the move, that is not likely to reduce the level of violence much. But it will improve Biafra's image with the representatives of the Organization of African Unity, who are sponsoring the peace talks, and perhaps ultimately bring African pressure on Lagos to follow suit.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.