পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/২৩৭

বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড enabled the Pakistanis to use commercial liners for military transport. A Commerce Department source said the licenses were subject to revocation and that the leases would be invalid without license. As to whether the leased, American-owned planes were being used by the Pakistanis for military purposes, the company official said only that he is personably sure that they are not. He said American crewmen of other World Airways planes periodically meet Pakistani crewmen of the leased aircraft in various Asian countries. "They tell our people they don't fly troops," the official said. However, he added, "I can understand why they'd say that, no matter what." The Pakistani airline's air traffic rights entitle it to fly between East and West Pakistan, as well as overseas. A World official said that by flying the leased planes into a "war zone," PLA would be breaking the terms of their contracts. "Whether East Pakistan is in fact a war zone I really couldn't say." he added. Two U.S. government sources who recently left Dacca, capital of East Pakistan, said they had seen armed Pakistani soldiers disembarking from PIA Boeing 707s and wounded troops being placed aboard. Neither was able to say whether the planes they saw were the leased aircraft. A World officer noted that the company's markings were removed and replaced by PIA identification. "But it's really a moot point," one of the sources slated. "The fact is that because they've got those two American-owned planes they're able to divert jets from commercial use to military use, and no matter how you slice it, we're helping them." A State Department source said the U.S. government viewed the deal "as a commercial matter." He said there were no U.S. government restrictions on the use of the planes. "We did not anticipate that these planes would be used for other then commercial purposes," the source said. "If we get other information, we will have to re-examine the matter. But I don't know what, in fact, we'd do." -Lewis M. Simons