The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 4

The Svdney Morning Herald. Thurs. June 7. 1979 WORLD NEWS OBITUARY MAY BE SEEN, BUT NOT HEARD organisation for signing the Ion Idress: he sold 3m books COLOMBO. Wednesday.

Non-aliened nations were reported to be close to agreement yesterday on who should represent Kampuchea at today's meeting of 25 foreign ministers. Vietnam had challenged the credentials of the sitting delegation which represents the ousted Pol Pot regime. But a compromise under which the Pol Pot delegation would participate in the meeting without the right to speak was expected to be formally approved. The conference in Sri Lanka has been called to prepare for the non-aligned summit in Cuba in September. A potentially more divisive attempt by hard-line Arabs to suspend Egypt's membership in the 88-nation peace treaty with Israel failed to overcome strong opposition and is to be shelved, at least temporarily, officials said.

A six-nation informal committee set up to discuss the Arab move had failed to reach agreement on whether Egypt's suspension should be included on the foreign ministers' agenda. (AAP-Reuter) Sadat set for big victory in new-look elections CAIRO, Wednesday. Millions of Egyptians will vote tomorrow in the country's first multi-party national elections since King Farouk Mas toppled nearly 27 years ago, when a group of rebel army officers proclaimed a republic President Sadat's party is tipped to sweep to a massive majority, leaving his political opponenjs with even less of a voice in Egypt's Parliament. Manila plans 50 per cent cut in oil Thais face big Meo influx MANILA. Wednesday.

Policy on Mid-East unchanged Hayden The Federal Opposition has not changed Its policy of cven-handedness towards the Middle East, its leader, Mr Hayden said last night. He defused a protest by about 30 Palestinian supporter with his statement at the launching of the Labor Party campaign for the Grayndler by-elcciion. The protesters were concerned that recent publicity meant his party was leaning towards support for Israel. Mr Hayden said the party's policy had been and continued to be an even-handed recognition of the rights of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. He said he had met a lot of Jewish people, but would be happy to see supporters of the Palestinians if they approached him.

He urged people at the Campsie meeting to support the Labor candidate for Grayndler, Mr Leo McLeay, to show that Australians were opposed to "Fraserism." The by-election for the seat, left vacant by the death in April of Mr Frank Stewart, will be held on June 23. The seat, considered a safe Labor seat, is also being con-, tested bv: E. C. Bellchambers (Ind). S.

J. E. Duncan (Voice of the Elderly). J. E.

Keig (Socialist Workers' Party), S. R. Kirkham (Australian Democrats), F. K. Salter (National Alliance), V.

Vasseleou (liberal) and F. Vouros (Socialist Party of Roots II sweeps TEN to top spot By CHRISTINE HOGAN Roots: The Next Generations swept all opposition from its path last week, the Sydney television ratings, issued yesterday, show. Roots II peaked at 44 on Monday night last week, according to the McNair Anderson survey for May 27 to June 2. It was week two of the third survey for this year. It gave TEN 10 a runaway win for the night-time ratings last week, with 35.5 per cent of the night-time audience.

It gave the opposition little chance on the four nights it went to air Monday, Tuesday. Thursday and Friday. ATN 7 came second with 30.2 per cent, TCN 9 gained 23.4 and the ABC 10.9. The programs which maintained their ratings against Roots II were on the ABC at 7.30 and 8 pm on Monday. Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em rated 21 and Are You Being Served? rated 23.

The real surprise of the week was the success of Mike Will-esee's new show, Willesee at 6. The crew of the program had a champagne celebration over the peak rating of 28 on Monday. The low was 21 on Thursday. The program averaged 24 through the week and easily beat TCN 9's figures for The Young Doctors. The win in the 6 pm slot pulled up ratings for 7's news and boosted viewers for Willesee at 7, which peaked at 32 on Monday.

The Philippines will reduce its dependence on oil by 50 per cent within the next 10 years, the Energy Minister, Mr Gcronimo Velasco. said yesterday. them into the mainstream of Laotian life, form the majority of some 160,000 Indo-Chinese refugees living in Thai camps. The Laotian Government appears to be stepping up its efforts to integrate the Meo and' this seems to be the major reason for their escape. Officials quoted the refugees as saying that an unknown number of Meo were still living in the jungle areas of Phubia and these would also probably take the first opportunity to flee to Thailand.

(Reuter) speaking at a meeting in His first book. Madman's Island, was based on his own experience with a demented prospector. Before it was published in 1927 he had worked as an assayer's assistant, seaman, station hand, drover, timber cutter and opal miner. By the time he decided to become a professional writer in 1931 Idriess had also prospected for tin. dived for pearls and wandered over most of Cape York Peninsula.

From then on he produced at least one book a year until 1969 when he wrote Challenge of the North and prefaced it with the comment that it would most probably be his last. Last night one of his daughters. Wendy Idriess. said he spent the last years of his life at Mona Vale "sitting in the garden watching the birds and thinking." He was admitted to the nursing home late last year after losing the use of his legs. Ion Llewellyn Idriess is survived by his two daughters, Wendy and Mrs Judith Peacock, Mrs Peacock's four children and his wife, Eta.

The youngest of his three sisters, Mrs Kit Williams, lives in Western Australia. The funeral service will be held at 11.30 am tomorrow at the Northern Suburbs Ion L. Idriess, whose books have conveyed a sense of the wild adventure and remote romance of the outback to Australians for the past 50 years, died yesterday. "Jack" Idriess, as he preferred to be known, died early in the morning at the Ocean View nursing home in Mona Vale not far from his home. He was 88.

Between 1927 and 1969. 56 of his books were published and more than three million copies sold, making him one of Australia's most prolific authors. All his books, including Flynn of the Inland, The Cattle King, Lasseter's Last Ride and The Desert Column, drew on his experiences in central Australia, the Gulf country, "the Pacific Islands and World War I. Although his easy conversational and anecdotal style marks his books as products of an earlier literary tradition his more popular works are still in print, in stock and being sold. Idriess's formal education ended when he was 14 at the School of Mines, Broken Hill, where he gained honours in chemistry and an assaying the central Philippines city of Cebu, Mr Velasco said the reduction would be achieved by government investment in developing alternative energy BANGKOK.

Wednesday. Thailand, already deluged with refugees fleeing communist lndo-China, may soon face another influx of Meo hill-tribe people from Laos, refugee officials said yesterday. Recently arrived Meo refugees in north-east Thailand were quoted as saying that there could be as many as 50.000 of their fellow tribesmen preparing to flee to Thailand. The refugees said these people had fled from the traditional Meo mountain stronghold of Phubia in north-eastern Laos to Van Vieng province, north of the capital of Vientiane, when government troops took over Phubia late last year. They had tried to settle in the rugged mountains of the province, but a steadily increasing government presence there was said to be forcing them out again.

The Meo, who have traditionally resisted any attempt by central governments to draw sources such as geo-thermal power. 1000 rescued from ferry The fire was brought under control after several hours. The blaze occurred in the same area where a similar vessel, the Romblon, caught fire five years MANILA, Wednesday. More than 1,000 passengers were rescued today from a burning luxury inter-island ferry about 120 km south of Manila Bav. The 3.800-tonne Don Sul-picio, which left Manila for the central Philippines city of Cebu yesterday, caught fire off Ba-tangas last night.

ago. Earlier this year another ferry caught fire in Manila Bay and several people were killed. (AAP-Reuter) President Sadat is now in a commanding position to reap the fruits of the wave of popular acclaim that greeted the return of El-Arish, the capital of Sinai, last month the first tangible result of the peace treaty with Israel. His National Democratic Party candidates seem certain to capture the bulk of the 392 seats in the new Parliament. The party was formed by Mr Sadat last July.

Popular reaction by this nation of 40 million people against the Arab States' boycott of Egypt as a result of the peace treaty has been to close ranks behind Mr Sadat. As one prominent Leftist opponent commented: "Sadat could not have timed it better. He's got El-Arish back and nobody is yet feeling the pinch from the Arab boycott. In two years time when the elections were meant to have been held the picture could have been different." The elections, originally scheduled for 1981. are the result of a national referendum called bv Mr Sadat on April 19.

Egyptians were basically asked two questions: Do you approve of the peace CAIRO, Wednesday. Fgjpt and Israel agreed today to allow unrestricted travel by sea and air between the two countries for everyone including tourists the Egyptian Prime Minister, Dr khalil, said. But he added that there would be no overland travel for the time being. AAP-Reutcr. treaty with Israel? Do you want elections now? The elections have been presented as a further ext'en.

sion of democracy. Egyptians have been given the right. to form political parties without having to meet the requirement that new parties must obtain at least 20 seats in Parliament. But the only new party' to emerg, the National Front, has not yet had time to establish itself. Mr Sadat announced veMcr day that he had concluded an arms deal with China which Western diplomats said involved a shipment of at least 60 Chinese-built MiG-19 fighter aircraft.

Mr Sadat gave no details of the deal and a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Cairo said he knew nothing about the deal. (AAP-Reuter) 1 jr iSmm. 4- yY I 91 SJCbV' 4 xp i China and Vietnam swap more prisoners PEKING, Wednesday. China and Vietnam exchanged yesterday their third group of prisoners captured during the month-long border war between the Communist neighbours earlier this year, the New China News Agency reported. It said China had released "487 sick and wounded captured Vietnamese armed personnel" at the Friendship Pass crossing-point between me two countries, and had received 55 sick and wounded Chinese released in turn by the Vietnamese.

China now has freed 725 Vietnamese prisoners and the Vietnamese side 98 Chinese prisoners. The two previous prisoner exchanges were also conducted at the Friendship Pass on May 28 and Mav 21. Peking has said it captured a total pf 1.651 Vietnamese, but 13 subsequently died of their wounds. Hanoi has said it captured 240 Chinese. The fourth of the five exchanges is due to take place on June 13, and the last on June 22.

Commandos die in raid 4i SALISBURY, Wednesday. Three young white Rhodesian commandos were slain in a raid against terrorist bases in neighbouring Mozambique, the Military Command announced today. It was the biggest loss reported in 33 cross-border missions launched by the military in the six-year war with communist-backed black nationalist The three soldiers were said to have been slain on Monday in clashes with Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union terrorists in the north-west province of near the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, border. An undisclosed number of terrorists and Mozambique troops were reported killed by the military command, but no Rhodesian casualties were reported slain until today. (AAP-AP) srv I Iran protests over Iraqi bombing raids TEHRAN, Wednesday.

The Iranian Government has protested to neighbouring Iraq over last Monday's air raid on three Iranian villages in which six people were said to have been killed. rr4' USSR jpll cjri eCaspiair XE Sea IRANH The incident happened in the western Azerbaijan province, a Kurdish area, and informed sources said four Irqai planes had bombed the villages after crossing the border in hot pursuit of Kurdish guerillas. The Iranian protest was lodged last night by the Interior Minister, Mr Ahmad Sadr Haj Seyed Javadi. Relations between the two Middle East neighbours have been tense in recent days because of fighting in the southern border province of Khuzes-tan involving autonomy-seeking Arabs and Iranian sold'ers. Relations between the two countries were only normalised in 1975 after the Shah had agreed to drop support for Kurdish guerillas fighting the Bagdad Government.

Traq has yet to reply to the Iranian protest, but Iraqi officials said Bagdad policy was one of non-interference in the affairs of other States. Meanwhile, the Iranian religious leader. Ayatollah Khomeini, threatened yesterday to crush writers and intellectuals who refused to accept the rule of Islam. The ayatollah interrupted a week's rest to address followers in the Holy City of Qom on the anniversary of a 1963 clergy-led rising against the Shah. "Sectors which oppose Islam should take guidance otherwise they will be destroyed by the same fist that destroyed the Shah," he said.

He accused fcis secular critics of being empty-headed and stricken by Western values. "Their ideas and speeches should be in keeping with the masses, otherwise they should go." the ayatollah said. Tehran IRAQI AIR IRAQ ATTACK A Good, Safe Investment. Guaranteed by the State Government. Unconditionally Guaranteed by the New South Wales Government for the payment of half-yearly interest and full repayment of principal on maturity.

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Invest through any office of a trading bank, through your stockbroker, or call at the Cornrnission offices. UK-Europe 'commitment' PARIS, Wednesday. The British Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, said yesterday her Conservative Government was committed to the European ideal. But, in talks with the French President, Mr Giscard d'Estaing, she said it would defend Britain's national interest staunchly in the Common Market. Mrs Thatcher put to President Giscard her vision of a revitalised Britain with the strength to command respect in Western Europe, informed sources said.

Both sides said the Prime Minister's first trip abroad since her election one month ago went well. Mrs Thatcher said: It was wonderful and I hope all goes like this." The French presidential spokesman, Mr Pierre Hunt, said: "It was a very cordial and friendly meeting. "The President learned with satisfaction that Britain will play a more active role in finding solutions to European problems." Mrs Thatcher said she was impressed by France's ambitious nuclear power program, which the Government is pursuing urgently to make good the country's lack of its own natural energy resources. (AAP-Reuter) Closing 15th June 1979, unless fully subscribed earlier. uoiio mm ran G5SB We try harder N.S.W.

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