Some three thousand people have been rounded up in Tanzania since the assassination of Sheikh Karume, the hated ruler of Zanzibar. The assassination itself was designed to trigger off a general popular uprising, but although a number of key points were seized on 7 April, order was restored by the Army, reinforced by fresh troops flown in on the order of President Nyerere. Since then Nyerere has assisted Karume's former benchmen in restoring his viciously reactionary regime. The mass arrests of trade unionists and leftists both in Zanzibar and on mainland Tanzania, together with a number of summary executions, have all been part of the campaign to stamp out bitter popular unrest. The Committee for the Release of Babu (former Minister for Economic Affairs and Development Planning) and all political prisoners in Tanzania has listed shot: Ali Sultan Issa, Ahmed Badawi Quiatein, Shioni Mzee, Ali Khatib Chwaya, the latter a former executive member of the Federation of Revolutionary Trade Unions, The origins of recent events in Tanzania must be traced back to the revolution against the Sultan of Zanzibar in early 1964. A prominent part in this revolution was played by the Umma Party which proclaimed its adherence to Marxism and supplied the militants who seized the Sultan's police stations. Many of the members of this Party had received training in Cuba. Very soon after the triumph of the Zanzibar Revolution it became clear that it could develop in a socialist direction. It was at this time that Nyerere and Karume devised the unification of Tanzania as a mechanism for applying brakes to the revolutionary process. Although at this time and later Nyerere may have been somewhat embarrassed by Karume (the Umma Party was dissolved in 1964, the Federation of Revolutionary Trade Unions banned in 1965), he nevertheless infinitely preferred Karume to the prospect of a real workers revolution in Zanzibar which could easily spill over and cause problems on the mainland:
For exactly the same reasons Nyerere has been anxious to forestall any possibility of revolutionary developments in Zanzibar recently. Most of those arrested are former members of the Umma Party. However, the overthrow of Karume has helped to re-kindle the flames of revolution in Tanzania and Nyerere's further lurch to the right will not be able to dampen them down for long. Shaikh Karume before his assassination
On the 18th anniversary of the fall of Dien Inhabitants flee from Hue as the liberation forces continue their steady advance towards the city And even if the majority of the American and Western European bourgeoisie come out in favour of a negotiated settlement, this does not necessarity mean that an American military escalation-of untold consequences, will not take place. The fact that only two of Nixon's advisors were in favour of the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in April did not prevent the bombing then. His suggestions to earlier presidents about an invasion of the North, or tactical nuclear bombardment, take on a frightful reality now that he is placed in a position where he does have the power, and a situation where he could choose to use it. The whole situation thus rests on a razor's edge. Whatever decision Nixon makes will affect international class struggle for a whole period. The balance rests on Nixon's options in the face of massive pressure. This poses pressing tasks for all socialists and revolutionaries.
SOLIDARITY IN BRITAIN In a whole number of countries, there have been important mobilizations in solidarity with the Indochinese revolution and in opposition to American escalation of the war. Our solidarity in Britain with the national liberation struggles in Ireland and Indochina are vitally important if one has any perspective of developing a revolutionary consciousness in the British working class. Not only does it allow us to explain concepts of imperialism, to expose peaceful coexistence, and so on; it is a concrete demonstration of international working class solidarity, for far too long absent from the workers' movement in Britain and the West. When the workers of