ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto said here today [Dec 20] that ... the nation must always ... keep itself fully prepared to meet the Civil Defence requirements. The Prime Minister was addressing a massive first All-Pakistan Civil Defence Rally and demonstration. … The rally … was participated [in] by about 800 Civil Defence workers from all the Provinces, and workers from various organisations. … The Prime Minister said it was very difficult to rule out the possibility of war. He said, there could be or there could not be a war but the nation has a duty to keep itself fully prepared. Because, he maintained once it is a war it is a total war always. … The Premier said that the people of Pakistan must take a lesson from their past experiences.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Beirut,] Lebanese Premier Rashid Al- Solh last night [Dec 19] accused Israel of preparing for a fifth Middle East war and planning a ‘new aggression’ on Lebanon. He was commenting on a statement … by Israel Def­ence Minister Shimon Peres that Arab States should not think they could sit back in safety while they sent men to fight his country.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2024