Evening star., 1948-03-23
By the Associated Press

ROME, Mar. 23.-A Foreign
Ministry spokesman said today
that Italy has fatty rejected
Yugoslavia's offer to exchange
Trieste for the Italian city of
Gorilla.
The western Allies proposed the
return of the free territory OF
Trieste to Italy last Saturday
Yugoslavia countered yesterday
with an offer to relinquish her
claims on Trieste if Italy will give
up Gorilla, to the north.
The spokesman said:
"It is clear that Italy cannot ac-
cept the separation of a part of
Italian flesh bartered for another
part of Italian flesh"
De Gasperi, Sforza Hailed.
The Italian answer came only a
few hours after great throngs roar
ing Viva Trieste" welcomed Pre-
mier Alcide de Gasperi and Foreign
Minister Carlo Sforza back to
Rome.
The spokesman emphasized that
the Italian government had re-
ceived no official word of the re-
ported proposal regarding Gorilla
He said he was speaking entirely
on the basis of press reports.
Asked what other hopes of treaty
revision there was in regard to the
Italian colonies, the spokesman
said:
"On the part of France, the thesis
has been confirmed in the most
absolute manner that she wishes TO
give Italy administration of Fri
trea, Somaliland and Libya.'
France has long been known to
favor letting Italy administer these
colonies, which the peace treaty
virtually stripped from her.
Russia also has stated willingness
to have administration of the COL
onies revert to Italy
The United States is also believed
to go along with France. The Brit
ish position has not been made
clear.
Trieste Development Stressed.
The spokesman stressed the i'm
portance of the Trieste development
to Italy's hopes for general revision
of the peace treaty. He said that
before and since italian ratification
of the peace treaty its eventual re-
vision had been the Italian govern
ment's aim.
He said he hoped Russia would
60 along with the western powers
Trieste proposal.
Revision of the treaty by resto-
ration of Trieste to Italy the spokes-
man said, could be the guarantee
of peace and that sincere collabora-
tion which Italy desires with neigh
boring people
There was pandemonium at the
station as Romans, for the first
time, beloved out their satiSfac-
ton with the western Allies pro-
posal to return Trieste to Italy. Mr..
De Gasperi and Mr.. Sforza were in
Turin Saturday when French For
eign Minister Georges Bidault an
nounced the idea.
Amid continued cries of Viva
Trieste Italiana," Viva de Gasperi'
and Viva Sforza," Mr.. De Gasperi
told the crowd it was too early to
make any definite forecast on the
future of Trieste, where Italian and
Yugoslav border patrols exchanged
shots yesterday.
1--WE do not know yet what will
come" he said. I'VE must still
wait. We must have tenacious pa
tience. Nothing that happened was
improvised or occurred without eff
fort And this effort was above
party lines"
Mr.. Sforza also spoke, but the
shouting OF the crowd virtually
drowned out his words.
The shooting scrape occurred at
the border separating the Yugoslav
and the American-British zones of
Trieste. An Italian policeman was
wounded. No immediate reason was
given for the shooting.
American officials said Italian
police, recruited by the American
military government, were patrol
ling yesterday inside the British
American zone when the Yugoslavs
opened fire with machine guns. The
(See TRIESTE, Page A-6)