World communists meet June 5, 1969

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This is Bush tell him London with your BBC World Report world communists
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meet on June the 1st. The long planned often perspire international
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conference of communist parties will be held in Moscow. But what's the
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point to these world gatherings of communists. And why are they called when they're called
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so that neither seems to be no regularity about these meetings. David Graham is a BBC
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specialist in communist affairs.
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The last one was held at the end of 960. More than eight years ago and we wondered
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how that was held at the end of 1957 only three years earlier. There is no
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regular organization that convened such conferences. When a number of
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communist parties and particularly when the Communist Party the Soviet Union things would be useful
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to have one why then they proposed it. There have been discussions about the agenda other discussions with
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other parties. One of the reasons why this one is so wrong is that it is being
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utterly bedeviled by the dispute between China and the Soviet Union. And
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also by the invasion of Czechoslovakia last year and the conference have been given many dates
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in the past two years or two then had to be scrapped and postponed because they simply could not
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get enough agreement. Earlier this year in Moscow and before that throughout last
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year meeting after meeting was held in Budapest in Hungary.
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And invitations were sent out to all countries. Communist parties who wish to attempt
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to draft the agenda to discuss exactly the preliminary documents are would be put in fact
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by the time the conference meets the donkey work will of been done it will be a matter of when the end of
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practically any making very minor amendments the document would have already been hammered out and that's what's
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been taking the time that's where the disagreement as a reason.
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And who actually does drop the agenda you imply that it is something which is done on the
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basis of conference but one suspects perhaps that Moscow has the greater hand in it.
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Now this now that there is of course a Moscow draft but if other
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communist parties firmly say look we will not come to Moscow to have a conference if you
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insist on this graph which is quite clearly what I'm going to buy you have said not only the
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Chinese are certainly staying away back to notably the Italian Communist Party
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and the legacy of London also the Communist Party of Great Britain they have insisted on in certain setting
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a number of passages into the document which market in one having a bit of a last preparatory
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meeting held in Moscow. Documents were drawn up some 200 alternative
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paragraphs. And these were all found out with the invitations to all the companies by the
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central committee as of all the commie parties of the world. That is to say I document
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about the organization of what they call the struggle against imperialism.
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A document about the proper way of conducting
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consultations within the international Communist movement and a document about the best way to
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celebrate Lenin's 100 birthday next year.
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David Grimm but if the final document Chartist an extent predictable what does the
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meeting really amount to. What do the Russians for example hope to get out of it from
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Moscow BBC correspondent Denis Blakely.
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First of all perhaps to revive a critical internationalism in the communist
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movement a movement in the obvious which suffers from too many
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examples of national agenda. Although I think
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all international common is by being able to point to the fact that a
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number of part is done together and produce the final documents
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in the common documents mean a great deal. I think they do to the
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Russians not necessarily for what they can. The content of
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cake to the naked eye but for the effect of that
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credibility the conference whether it be a shining
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symbol of community cohesion and solidarity. Why is it perhaps not
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concern itself with an attempt to flesh out anything nor can
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it probably concern itself with criticism of individual is
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limited and that the Russians will get what they
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want since they will not demand more. They know they can get
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this what they are going to take. I'm going to fight to be you.
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How many parties will actually be getting two members of a
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communist movement. Eighty one came to the 1960 conference
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in 1969. There will probably be about seven according to
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intelligent guesses and it isn't anything to go by. We
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know nothing at all about the internal deliberations of the conference which will merely have
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to read between the lines of the final document to which the conference will
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BBC Moscow correspondent Denis Blakey.
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After the 960 conference and the widening split between China and the Soviet
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Union the Russians attempted to get an outright condemnation of China from other
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communists all over the world and now it looks as if this is rather more than they can hope for.
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And it will go back specializes in Soviet affairs for the BBC and I asked him if he thought the
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Soviet Union would press for a condemnation of the Chinese who were not of course be attending the
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conference.
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I suppose they would like an implicit condemnation of China or a Greece that would like to
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criticize China but it's very very dangerous for the
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silvered leaders to embark on this. A British delegate for
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example at one of the preparatory conferences said quite clearly that the
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British Communist Party would not tolerate any discussion of China without China
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being present. Well the British Communist Party is not particularly influential but
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the Romanian Communist Party for example was simply likely to
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walk out. If China is discussed. So that is you
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definitely presents a problem to the Soviet leader.
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Another problem facing Moscow is the so-called Brashear doctrine of limited
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sovereignty which was a nonstarter the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August one
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hundred sixty eight. I asked Chris speech East European specialist of The Economist.
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If you thought any of the East European countries would want to raise this point in Moscow
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outside the conference and should the subject come up in the conference the only country in Eastern Europe
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that's likely to oppose it very much is Rumania Romania remains
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opposed to the version of doctrine both in theory and its implementation as in the case of
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Czechoslovakia. And I think that this has not in any way
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abated in recent months. Other European countries and here I mean
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particularly the members of the water pact who took part in the invasion of Czechoslovakia
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are likely to try and keep off the subject again for a very good reason because they
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realize that in the present mood Soviet rulers would not like to be
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publicly exposed criticized or attacked in any way.
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It has been suggested that Doctor Who site coups succeeded Mr Dubcek as communist
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party secretary in Czechoslovakia may ask other countries to keep off the
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question of the presence of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. But what advantage would
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he gain from this Kristie.
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Well according to the rules of the game as Doctor Who site is playing it now he
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very much wants to be left alone with the Russians gradually
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to settle the problem between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. He wants to give a good
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impression to the Russians of government if you like of loyalty to the
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Soviet Union and for this you need peace and quiet and there's little
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interference from the other communists as possible. Because Should there be any the Russians could
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easily conclude that this would be an engineer would certainly encourage from
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the Czechoslovak side and that could create difficulties for him in his relations with the
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Russians. Also this sort of attitude would probably be violence objected to
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by the very strong hardliners now within the Chivas Loic leadership who have gained
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ground in in recent months. So for all those reasons I think the advice of the Doctor Who so he's
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likely to give to the others would be do not discuss Czech Slovakia if at all
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possible.
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But will request from Doctor Who to keep off the check question be respected
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at the Italian Communist Congress earlier this year. There was open criticism of the whole
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Brezhnev doctrine and of Moscow's intervention in Czechoslovakia. I asked David
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Graham who covered the Italian Congress for the BBC.
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If he thought the Italians would raise the subject in Moscow I
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mean to do so and there are several other Communist Party who are going to give him every support. Now I think it's perfectly
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possible that the Czechoslovak delegation I'm dies certain amount of. There
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was a suggestion from Soviet hosts may say please don't talk
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about Czechoslovakia internal affairs. What I think it absolutely clear is that several
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communist parties are going to be meeting in Moscow are going to say no no this is not just an internal
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Czechoslovak affair. This is the thing that concerns the whole international Communist movement. What
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happened last August undermined our common work together we're going to talk about it. They'll certainly talk
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about it in the lobby outside and probably on the conference hall.
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David Graham. Well how far are the Italian communists the second largest
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Communist Party in the West likely to be the spearhead of an attack on recent Soviet
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actions. BBC Rome correspondent Patrick Smith.
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The aim of the Italian Communist leaders in Moscow would be to float their short
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term and would be to keep the discussions open. They have no wish to
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condemn outright the Peking line to excommunicate the Chinese as the
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Soviet leaders seem anxious to do. The Italians disagree but they do
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not condemn either side. They hope to persuade their colleagues to keep their
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options open. In an effort to avoid deepening still further the rift between the
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two communist superpowers. The Italians long term aim is more
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ambitious. It is to help the Moscow Congress achieve a definition of
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principles regarding relations between autonomous communist parties in
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sovereign states. For the Italian communists go to Moscow to
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restate the resolutions taken at their own national congress embark on your last
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February which support what is commonly known as the two object line that is
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to confirm that each Communist Party which has a different point of departure in the
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various countries has the right to autonomy and that each Communist
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or Socialist State of the Communist description puts it has the right to its own
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sovereignty. They do not however regard themselves as the spearhead of a
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concerted West and communist attack on the ideological and strategic
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fortress of the Kremlin. Nor is mediators in the Sino-Soviet conflict.
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The Italians go to Moscow hoping that the wisdom of their leader the Laetoli Otty
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who preach unity in diversity will find some echo at least in the
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important gathering as it debates the major issue is convulsing the communist world
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today.
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BBC your own correspondent Patrick Smith. At the end of the conference I
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document will interact which will do its best to cover the main points raised at the conference.
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But what kind of document is it likely to be this time. A little gold bag.
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It's bound to be around that anodyne document. In other
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words unity is likely to be mainly negative. It will
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probably be directed. Well it's bound to be directed against
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so-called American imperialist actions in Vietnam. It is
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balance to condemn the resurgence of neo
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fascism in West Germany on all these things. All the
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participants are likely to agree without the slightest difficulty but that of course
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does not yet mean real unity real unity must mean
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something positive. But the Soviet leadership will be
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able to announce to the world that. It has managed to call
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a particular conference and lutes got
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an agreed document so from the propaganda point of view it will have gained something.
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But the problems will definitely remain.
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Anatole Goldberg. I asked David Grimm how predictable he thought the document is
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likely to be.
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Not predictable though over the arming I could be reading with a very dry as a lot of people welled up to
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see just how much of this. Undoubted
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ferment of criticism is reflected in the document heaving. The
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importance of the document is that for the next few years at least the
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whole controversy inside the International Communist movement will be conducted with reference to this
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document. Some will say you are betraying Iraq to someone will say look in
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this we are absolutely loyal to paragraph 17 that kind of thing.
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So it is more than just a formal declaration of we are all brothers together.
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Oh indeed yes. CARLSON rather than I will be clear.
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David Graham and the quarrelsome brothers are due to start their meeting on the 5th
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of June this is Bruce telephone in London.
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This was your BBC World Report. BBC
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World Report was made available to the station by the National Education or radio
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network.