-18-                            
 
                  #680, Nineteenth, from London             
 
                                                            
 
 
days afterwards - on the 17th agreement was reached with the 
      Greek Government to which the EAM Ministers subscribed that all 
      guerrilla formations should be disarmed and no mention was made 
      at all of the Rimini Brigade. Later the EAM Ministers began to 
      argue that if the guerrillas were to be disarmed the Rimini Brigade 
      ought to lay down their arms too. But the other members of the 
      Greek Government would not accept that and I do not think that 
      is very surprising either in the light of the record of the brigade 
      or in the light of the fact of how few Greek troops there were 
      under arms. Still they wanted to reach agreement and M. Papandreou 
      asked the EAM Ministers who were complaining of the existence 
      of this brigade to draft a decree for the demobilization of the 
      guerrillas in which it was provided that a brigade of ELAS should 
      be retained under arms in order to balance the Rimini Brigade. 
      That compromise was offered that draft was produced by the EAM 
      Ministers themselves. They drew it up brought it to their colleagues 
      and it was accepted by all the other members of the government 
      on 27th November. How is it possible to say that the Rimini Brigade 
                   was the cause of the break.              
 
                                                            
 
 
Next day the EAM Ministers went back on the draft which they 
      themselves had drawn up and demanded that all forces should be 
      disarmed including the Rimini Brigade. The government