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Editorial News of Wednesday, 29 October 1997

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THE GHANAIAN VOICE

"Coup Panic!...Over low flying jets", is the banner headline on the front page of the Voice. The accompanying story says low flying military aircraft which remained aloft late into last Monday night and early dawn on Tuesday did not only diturb the sleep of many residents of the Accra-Tema metropolis but also fuelled speculations that it has something to do with the country's security. The Voice says by late Monday evening, several people were seen standing in groups and wondering whether the flights were not reminiscent of the events which Ghanaians, particularly those in Accra, witness in times of attempted coups. The paper says what even gives the suspicion of an abortive security disturbance some credence is the rumoured arrest of seven people by one of the security groups whose identity are still shrouded in secrecy. The Voice added that around 9 a.m. last Tuesday, two Air Force jets were also seen streaking into the air, flying over the Castle and heading towards the Atlantic Ocean. GRI

The Voice reports in its inside pages that Ghanaian journalists have been charged to exercise restraint and avoid publications likely to throw the nation into anarchy, as that cannot be the best alternative to government. The Voice says at a news conference in Accra, the editor of the "Democrat" newspaper, a pro-government weekly, Alhaji Razak El-Alawa, admonished that no matter which political group the journalists belong, they should exercise restraint in their writing. He said while performing their professional duties, journalists ought to display some amount of patriotism and always let national interest be paramount in their minds. GRI