Evening star., 1940-10-28
Belgrade
Continued From First Page)

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Greece in two and sever the country
| from possible Turkish aid.
Italian bombers were said in dip
lomatic circles here to have bombed
the 2,500-year-old port of Piraeus,
miles south of Athens.
A Greek naval base is located
there and the harbor usually is
packed with merchant ships and
sailing craft on which whole fam
lilies live. The harbor is lined with
warehouses and f1imsy buildings
mere hundred yards from the
anchorage where freighters of
score of nations are tied.
Premier Dragisha Cvetkovich of
/ Yugoslavia summoned a cabinet
meeting after he and the war min
lister, General Negic, had conferred
with Prince Paul on the Greek
Italian struggle-almost within sight
of Yugoslavia's southern frontier.
1t was indicated authoritatively
that Yugoslavia would wait and see
how the Greeks stand up against
l1lo 1JdlldIl dllO lloW
aid Britain is able to give before
making her own definite stand.
Reports received here said Bulgaria
was taking a similar attitude.
Yugoslav Troops Moved.
Meanwhile Yugoslavia looked to
her own defenses. Several columns
of troops marched through the cap
ital to a railway station. presum-
ably to move southwark toward the
Albanian border.
Skirted Greek troops battled with
the invading motorized forces in the
border mountain passes.
Details of naval action at
Corfu, off the Greek Albanian coast,
were not known Immediately, but
observers here wondered whether
British naval units. backing up
England's guarantee of Greek inde-
pendence, had reached the scene.
The reported firing, however,
might have been between italian
warships and Greek shore batteries
on the island, they said.
Greek waters off Crofu in the
northern Ionian Sea were reported
mined last August. The Greek fleet
had scheduled naval maneuvers"
there today.
Pact Violation Charged.
Meanwhile, Yugoslav quarters
said the italian attack on Greece
violated the Yugoslav-Italian pact
of 1897 because Yugoslavia was not
informed in advance of the move.
Official statements, however, said
Yugoslavia would remain neutral in
the conflict and offered Yugoslav
services as mediator to keep the
war from spreading to the rest of
the Balkans
Reports here said the italian ulti-
matum which Greece rejected and
which led to the attack included
demands for the abdication of King
George II of Greece, various mill
tary concessions and free passage
for italian troops and material
through Greece.
There were reports here Britain's
East Mediterranean squadron was
steaming to the aid of Greece and
that Germany would remain aloof
"for the time being"
Phone Calls Limited.
All telephone calls between Greece
and other countries were reported
! limited to state calls. Strict CEN
sorship was imposed on all telegraph
communication.
There was no immediate indica-
tion here as to what action ItalyS
axis partner-Germany-would take
in connection with the outbreak of
hostilities in the Balkans, which
have been on tenterhooks for weeks
since the axis instituted the diplo-
matte overtures in its latest push
eastward.
Germans in Belgrade said they
had no knowledge of any plan for
the Reich to participate in the con-
flict, but Yugoslavs feared that Ger
many might take hand because of
the hundreds of Germans in Greece
and demand passage for troops
through Yugoslavia to the Greek
border.
Military experts expressed the be-
lief the Greeks would be able to
hold the Fascist land attack in the
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