Gulf News Archive Published: April 07, 2008, 00:05
A daily pick of news events that happened on this day in history from the pages of Gulf News dated April 7, 1979. Violence erupts in Pakistan
President Zia-ul Haq's troops and police have clamped down on Pakistan to prevent violent demonstrations of public anger and grief at the execution of former Premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Troops in armoured vehicles ringed Bhutto's home town of Larkana in Sind province and everyone entering or leaving is being searched for arms. In Rawalpindi police broke up a demonstration of several hundred people who were chanting "Death to Zia and Zia's children." Violent protests against the execution flared in cities across Pakistan.
Over 20 million voted for an Islamic Republic
The Iranian Government has announced official results in the nation's two-day referendum, showing 99.3 per cent support for the transformation of the nation into an Islamic republic in place of the 2,500-year-old monarchy. Election director Ahmad Nourbakhsh said a total of 20,147,055 people voted for an Islamic Republic and 140,966 voted against it. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, architect of the Iranian revolution and leading backer of the Islamic Republic, announced victory in the referendum.
Carter tells pay more and use less oil
US President Jimmy Carter has warned the energy crisis is serious and becoming worse and ordered the gradual lifting of price controls on domestically produced oil at the risk of deepening double-digit inflation. "The energy crisis is real," he declared in a televised speech. "This is a painful step, and I'll give it to you straight each one of us will have to use less oil and pay more for it."
Entebbe captured, Libyan troops on the run
Tanzanian and Ugandan rebel forces have captured Uganda's International Airport at Entebbe and were marshalling their forces in the suburbs of the capital Kampala for the final drive to overthrow President Idi Amin. The diplomatic sources said hundreds of Libyan troops flown in to prolong the days of the Amin regime were being driven to the northern airbase of Nakasongola from where they would be evacuated, possibly with the President, to the Libyan Jamahiriyah.
