Word: lesotho
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...remoter corners of the landlocked southern African state of Lesotho, the fastest means of communication is a yell across the mountainous kingdom's multitudinous valleys. Last week those cries brought word to Maseru, the capital, that an all-out guerrilla war seemed to be brewing in the rugged Maluti Mountains of the north...
...Lesotho, formerly Basutoland, has a population of 1,000,000, almost entirely black, and is totally surrounded by and dependent upon South Africa. The country has been a shaky proposition ever since Britain granted it independence in 1966. South Africa has backed Lesotho, largely because it represents the sort of separate development that South Africa would like to see for its own black Bantustans...
...January, the nation's first national elections were ruled invalid by the Prime Minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, when it became apparent that his party was about to lose. Jonathan, a chief of Lesotho's major tribe, the Basuto, had King Moshoeshoe (pronounced Mo-shway-shway) put under house arrest for daring to support the opposition. Last week the king was whisked off to exile in The Netherlands...
While Moshoeshoe chafed, reports of battles between Lesothian guerrillas and the country's British-led police began echoing down from the hills. Last week, at diamond-rich Kao, rebels reportedly hurled boulders down on a police convoy. In retaliation, the police commandeered light aircraft from Lesotho Airways (a tiny air-taxi operation owned by the government) and, in a throwback to the aerial tactics of 1914, dumped hand grenades on the rebels. Total rebel losses since the fighting began are put at 150; the police admit that two lawmen have been killed and several more wounded...
Only a few hundred police stand against that event, for Lesotho is too poor to afford an army. The king, on the other hand, has a private cavalry-a formidable gang of red-blanketed horsemen-and many Basutos possess hunting rifles. Nor could the South African Government be prevailed upon to intervene for the Prime Minister. It dare not if it wanted to, for such interference in another country's affairs could set a dangerous precedent for South Africa herself...