years. In the first phase of fighting, 1965-67, the Front carried out guerrilla the main Muscat-Salala road phase, 1967-69, fight September 1968 and artillery from covernmical garrisons. failure. The base of Madhoub remained, held by B Company of the Muscat Regiment, with around 450 men. But the Front closed in and it was minany abandonca in June 1909. MIS ent only the provincial capital, and it was stormed and captured during a monsoon storm late in August. Its governor, Hamid bin Said, was captured. He was tried by a people's court and then executed for being a British agent.
The fall of Rakhyout completed the liberation of the western province. A new third phase of the war has now opened, involving positionat warfare. The Front has liberated the whole nolar but for tne coastal plain around Salala and the desert in the north. Fighting is concentrated on the mountainous section of the AND AMINA: INTERVIEW WITH TWO REVOLUTIONARY GIRLS Tufula, 15, and Amina, 12, are members of the Popular Front now undergoing three months military and political training in the People's Liberation Army. They form part of the first platoon of women's militants to receive full training for membership in the fighting ranks of the revol ution. This is a transcript of the astonishing militant inter view that Fred Halliday took with them.
Why are you fighting and supporting the revolution? Tufula: Because British imperialism is killing our men and our women. We are fighting to get them out. What do your family do?
Tufula: My family are shepherds in the western province, and I used to work with them. For three months of the vear we grew crops. and tor the rest of the time we were nomads, herding our flocks. I never went to school or learnt to read. I joined the Front two years ago, and my parents tried to stop me. But I felt I should join my comrades.
Amina, can you tell us how you came to join the Front? Amina: Well, I was in Salala, the capital, and you can't escape by land as it is surrounded by a big fence. So I escaped by sea with my brother. That was last September. Why did you run away?
Amina: Imperialism. My father was a poor farmer, he got 45 rupees a day. We were very poor. So my brother and I got an old car-tyre for 8 rials and we swam in the sea for eight hours till we reached the coastline controlled by the Front.
Weren't you cold and frightened? Could you swim? Amina: I couldn't swim well, and we got very cold and Salala-Muscat road. aptised the "red line" by the Front. In fighting between November 12 and December 20 1969 they claim to have killed and ounded 210 government troops HOW ITS DONE Why is the Dhofar liberated area possible? th miscalculations of the Sultan and the the ample of Chinese arms-these are partial answers. The major reason is that a revolutionary party, armed with Marxism, has successfully and tenaciously waged a people's war and mobilised the peasantry. In Dhofar, the power of armed propaganda has been enormous: the popular masses rallied immediately to the Front once the fighting began. The comrades still face many problems: the social development of the area will be long and difficult; the military battle is not yet complete even in Dhofar, and air attacks are causing heavy damage; finally, the strategic extension of the war from Dhofar into Oman and then into the cities of the Gulf has till to be effected. But they are determined to liberate the whole of the Gulf major defeat on Britain, America, Iran and Arab reaction.
be captured by the British.
Who thought of escaping, you or your brother?
Amina: Everyone thinks of escaping. or the Sultan?
but they How did you get to hear about the Front in Salala?
Amina: People found leaflets against the Sultan, they said "This is good and so is the revolution".
Tufula, since joining the Front what have you done? Tufula: Well, at first I was in the militia.
Guard, and then I took part in defending Shahbout when the enemy attacked it in the summer of 1969. There was a battle for 24 hours, and I carried water to the fighters up front. I think I was the first woman to join the army in the western area.
with comrades in the Front. But it is still difficult.
What have you learnt from the Front since you fled Amina?
Amina: I've learnt literacy, politics and revolution Do you ever miss your parents?
Amina: I don't think about my parents, I think about the revolution.
Who do you think are the enemies of the revolution? Amina: who make revolution.
And what do you think of Nasser?
Amina: He's a reactionary and a petty-bourgeois.
Why is Nasser a reactionary?
Amina: He looks after his own interests and not those of the people.
Tufula: doesn't help us at all.
And what do you think about the Soviet Union and its rôle in the Middle East?
Tufula: I think one of the other comrades had better answer that.
Who do you think are the friends of the revolution in Dhotar?
Amina: Well, we have a lot of friends; do you want me to tell you the names of all of them?
revolution?
Amina: Comrade Mao has helped us. He gave us arms and he has taught us.
What do you think of the Palestinian revolution? hungry and thirsty. But it is better to die in the sea than What is life like in Salala? Have you seen British officers Amina: Sometimes I'd see British officers out shopping.
the Popular one else one of them. propaganda against the Jutula:
After the revolution, visit any other country?
People's China and Yemen.
We used to consider him as a God, but now he mean what countries are the friends of the Platoon of Wreckage of plane downed in 1969 1 Rakhyout: peasants house destroyed by the RAF Amina: They are like us. They are fighting for liberation, and they have socialist aims.
Well, what do you think of al-Fatah?
Amina: Tve never heard of it.
What do you think of the relations between men and womeer generally, and of the system of marriage-contracts Tufula: It is a pity to ask something from a person if you re going to marry him. If I want a man I'll marry him because I want to and he won't have to buy me. Anyway, there is no difference between men and women. I am a woman, and I've seen 1 can do the same as they do. Before the revolution women used to be bought and sold and dispensed with like animals. Now they must know their rights and take part in the struggle along with everyWhat do you think of Islam? Are you religious? Tufula: I am in a society of people who pray, and I am Do you find that men resist the equality of women, and hang onto their old ideas?
Tutula: Marriage has to come after the revolution as it might slow down our work during the struggle. We are fighting here in Dhofar, and Dhofar is part of the Gulf. There is a problem about women participating since their families usually resist and some people say that if women join the British will come and take them and kill them But people are getting over this What rôle will women play after the revolution?
There is a big rôle awaiting women. They will have to farm and learn to read, write and type.
would you like to go abroad and Tufula: I'd like to visit the countries that are helping us, the People's Republic of South women
IRAQ The Black Dwarf 23rd March 1970 Page 10
----- pull-quotes -----
Where did you learn to speak Arabic? Tufula: The Front taught me, and I learnt from working