London, Apr. 11.
Norway will be regarded as an ally by the western Powers regardless of reported negotiations whereby a new government may be forced to accept the German occupation.
This clarification of the status of the Norwegians was made yesterday by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, in addressing members of the National Defence Public Interest Committee at a luncheon.
The Allied Governments, he stated, would regard any Norwegian negotiations with th®enemy as "taken under duress."
He added that "it would in no way affect our determination to resist on behalf of powerless Norway, both the effect for Norway of this brutal exhibition of violence, and for ourselves an extension of German stragetic power on the North Sea and the Atlantic, which it would be impossible for this country to accept."
He assured his listeners that the British Navy and French units are now operating in Norwegian waters with powerful forces and promised that the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, would make a full statement to Parliament today regarding the progress being made to prevent Germany from consolidating positions in Norway.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.