Word: namibian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Even by the efficient standards of the South African military, the operation was brutal. After dawn, 43 heavily armed troops of South Africa's seasoned, mostly black 32nd Battalion were airlifted across the Namibian border into the rocky terrain of the Cambeno valley, some 15 miles away in the southwestern corner of Angola. Then, supported by helicopter gunships, they destroyed a secret, unfortified supply base manned by an estimated 250 guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). The toll: 201 guerrillas killed. Only three South African soldiers were lost...
...South African raid came at an awkward moment for the five Western "contact states"-the U.S., Britain, France, West Germany and Canada-that began talks in London last week to iron out final problems in the first phase of a settlement that would guarantee Namibian independence. The main stumbling block: SWAPO'S reluctance to go along with complex election procedures designed to protect Namibia's 90,000 whites (out of a population of 1 million...
Even so, a Cuban withdrawal from Angola would considerably ease Pretoria's fears of a Soviet-dominated axis of black states stretching from Mozambique on the Indian Ocean to Namibia on the Atlantic. The South African government recently made its most positive move toward Namibian independence so far by agreeing to Western-backed constitutional principles and a complicated set of procedures for elections, which would make up the first phase of a settlement. SWAPO, however, has balked at the complicated electoral rules, designed to protect the rights of Namibia's 100,000 whites (out of a total population...
...Africa, which is concerned about the makeup and visibility of a proposed 7,500-member U.N. peace-keeping group that would supervise a cease-fire (see following interview). The South Africans are deeply distrustful of the U.N. since the General Assembly has declared SWAPO the authentic representative of the Namibian people. Given the South Africans' reluctance to relinquish the territory, a final settlement still seems elusive, but it may be a bit closer than ever before...
...From your perspective, has significant progress been made toward Namibian independence...