Word: maseru
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Strolling through the peaceful vegetable gardens and fruit trees at his country retreat 40 miles outside the capital city, Maseru, Lesotho's Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan early last week was the picture of self-confidence. Yes, admitted the Prime Minister, his country had been shaken by a 19-day ) blockade by South Africa, which completely surrounds the mountainous kingdom (pop. 1.5 million). But Chief Jonathan, 71, who had ruled Lesotho (pronounced Leh-sue-too) in an increasingly autocratic manner since its independence from Britain in 1966, smoothly dismissed rumors that his government might be toppled by a military takeover...
...Lesotho people greeted the news with undisguised glee. Crowds jammed the main street of Maseru to cheer the soldiers. Outside the city, celebrators joyously tore down a highway sign bearing Jonathan's name. The news was just as warmly received in South Africa, which allowed three freight trains carrying vital food and gasoline to pass into Lesotho for the first time in three weeks...
...border that severely restricted the daily flow of supplies into the enclave nation. But relations between the countries had been tense for some time. Jonathan had irritated the fiercely anti-Communist South African government by inviting the Soviet Union and other Marxist countries to open embassies in Maseru. He had also given refuge to guerrillas from the outlawed African National Congress, which seeks to overthrow South Africa's white-minority government...
...Britain for an organized airlift to help his country withstand the South African pressure. He threatened to turn to East bloc countries if the West did not respond. Nevertheless, two weeks ago, Jonathan sent a delegation to Pretoria to discuss a settlement. Diplomatic sources in Maseru suggest that General Lekhanya, a member of the group, decided to stage his coup when the South Africans told him that they would continue the blockade and might openly raid A.N.C. bases in Lesotho if the country did not change its policies toward Communist countries and the A.N.C. The day after the coup, Lekhanya...
...clock in the morning a full moon shone over Maseru (pop. 75,000), capital of the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, a mountainous enclave within South Africa. Most of the residents had gone to bed, except for a few night owls playing the slot machines and roulette wheels of Maseru's two casinos. Suddenly the staccato of gunfire rocked the night. Lesotho had been invaded...