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ned in New Caledonia for the weekend of March 24-25.

However, the weekend pas sed calmy and the fears of violence were unfounded. Of the 15 properties occupied, mostly on the west coast, the owners of several laid charges of trespass and applied for the expulsion of the “occupiers”.

In a special sitting the Noumea court delivered its judgment at 6 p.m. on the Saturday evening ordering im mediate expulsion of the tres passers and destruction of the huts. However, by Sunday morning, all properties had been vacated except for one at Kone (290 km north of Noumea) where the Melane sians left after they’d finished lunch.

land.

The Republican Party, which had decided against any repris als after the high commission er’s speech, warned the IF they were considering laying private charges against those responsi ble for the occupations. The IF requested that any charges be laid against them as a political party.

For the weekend of IF activ ity, the front received 15 tele grams of support, from Austra lia, New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii and Tahiti. The land occupations were also accom panied by IF demonstrations in other areas of the territory and by the symbolic occupation of the administrative centre of the Loyality Islands (at Lifou) and of the gendarmerie at Ouveals-

Helen Fraser.