Jungle Hunt

Were he a less determined man. Prime Minister Tengku (Prince) Abdul Rahman might well be tempted, after less than one year as head of the new Federation of Malaya, to feel a trifle complacent about the sorry state of the once formidable Communist jungle rebels who for so long terrorized his land. Today, more than half of Malaya's 50,000 square miles have been officially declared "white," i.e., free of all terrorists. Less than 1,000 Communists are still active, mostly in the southern state of Johore and the central state of Perak. For the most part, they exist in small bands of from five to ten men who have lost contact with one another; most are short of food, and some have not heard a word from Communist Leader Chin Peng (hiding across the border in the Thailand jungles) for as long as three years. But the Prince is in no mood to let up.

Staying Alive. All last week jet bombers from the British, Australian and New Zealand air forces worked over a 1,600-mile tract of jungle in Perak. On the ground, patrols crept toward the shattered target areas, cutting their way through underbrush as high as a man's head. British artillery plastered one sector near Sungei Siput with 25-pounders. An Australian battery poured mortar fire into another area, while only 400 yds. away a platoon of weary New Zealanders sweated out their 15th day of waiting for the enemy to show himself. For 33,000 Malayan and other Commonwealth troops, it was an exasperating kind of war which in three months had resulted in the capture or surrender of only nine terrorists.

But the fact remained that for weeks the terrorists have not been able to commit a single act of violence. Their entire activity has been reduced to the elementary one of trying to stay alive.

When Malaya won her independence last August, Prime Minister Rahman announced that he hoped the anti-terrorist war would be over on Malaya's first birthday. For the people of the "nonwhite" areas who must live under virtual martial law and are plagued by rationing,* by 4 p.m. curfews, and the constant dread of bombardment, a cease-fire would be a welcome birthday present indeed. But they will apparently have to do without it. The Prince is made nervous by Communist gains in Indonesia, just across the Strait of Malacca, and is eager to get his own house in order.

Stay Out. Last month, when the Soviets sent an oversized 38-man delegation to a U.N.-sponsored conference in Malaya and tried to reverse Rahman's adamant refusal to have diplomatic relations with Communist countries, the Prime Minister bluntly told them: "We cannot allow representatives of Communist countries here while we are fighting Communists in the jungle. We just cannot have ties with you." Later, when 35 British Labor M.P.s demanded that Britain withdraw her troops from Malaya, they got no support from Rahman. Rather than urge British troops to go home, the Cambridge-educated Prince insists that "it is as much the duty of the British people as the Malayan to meet the Communist challenge."

* When they buy tinned goods, the grocer must puncture the can at the time of purchase, so that it cannot be stored and later handed over to (or stolen by) the rebels.

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