Surrender or Die, Romania Tells Loyalists : East Bloc: Red Cross says slain dictator’s secret police, given until Thursday to turn themselves in, may be posing as relief workers.

The new Romanian government set a surrender-or-die deadline for former secret policemen today, and the International Red Cross said some of Nicolae Ceausescu’s dreaded gunmen may be masquerading as relief workers.

The forces loyal to the executed dictator have until 5 p.m. (7 a.m. PST) Thursday to give themselves up and turn in their weapons, a decree signed by provisional leader Ion Iliescu said.

Anyone seized after the deadline will be tried by the special courts and sentences carried out swiftly, it said, clearly indicating that those found guilty will be executed by firing squad.

The ultimatum, read on Bucharest radio, appeared aimed at speeding up army operations against die-hard remnants of the now-dismantled Securitate forces who ran Ceausescu’s police state.

A similar deadline set Monday was ignored by the well-armed Securitate gunmen who have sown terror across the country by opening fire on civilians and the military.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said members of the Securitate may be using Red Cross armbands and flags to pose as relief workers.

Spokeswoman Francoise Bory told reporters in Geneva that many unauthorized people were using the humanitarian organization’s red-and-white emblem. She said these might include members of Ceausescu’s secret police.

“We have heard reports that members of the Securitate may be using Red Cross armbands and flags to defend themselves or even to perpetrate attacks,” Bory said.

Romania’s interim government, which emerged from a chaotic rebellion against Ceausescu that started Dec. 15, has said it will hold free elections by April.

Vice President Dumitru Mazilu told reporters after a news conference today that Romania “will be free, not Communist but democratic.

“In April we shall have free elections like we never had before, and Romania will be free,” he said.

Mazilu also defended the swift trial and execution of Ceausescu as a necessity forced by a revolutionary situation.

Meanwhile today, the new provisional government scrapped some of Ceausescu’s most despised laws, which had driven Romania’s 23 million people to the verge of despair.

Use of the word comrade-- tovarasul in Romanian--as a formal term of address was banned.

A plan to flatten villages and forcibly resettle people in new urban centers was scrapped.

Abortion--banned under Ceausescu in a drive to boost Romania’s declining population--was legalized. Compulsory spot checks on women of childbearing age to find out if they were pregnant were ended.

Laws were also lifted that prevented people from taking up residence anywhere in the country and compelled all enterprises to be self-financing--a plan that meant workers were frequently not paid full salaries when planned production targets were not met.

“Catch-all” laws on state slander and subversion were also scrapped.