Word: nkomo
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...Almost certainly there would be acts of vengeance by the Rhodesian armed forces, probably in the form of retaliatory raids against guerrilla camps in Zambia and Mozambique. Even many whites who had begun to seem receptive to the idea of eventual black rule in Rhodesia wondered, after hearing Nkomo claim responsibility for the air crash in a BBC interview, wondered anew whether there could be a political agreement with...
Ironically, such an agreement was exactly what Prime Minister Ian Smith had been seeking when he met secretly with Nkomo in Lusaka, Zambia, last month. Convinced that his "internal settlement" with three moderate black leaders had failed because it had not brought an end to the fighting, Smith had flown to the Zambian capital to see Nkomo on Aug. 14. Smith urged Nkomo to join the Salisbury government and thereby, in effect, dump his Marxist co-leader of the Patriotic Front, Robert Mugabe. In return, Smith promised to help Nkomo become the first President of an independent Zimbabwe...
...meeting was a risky undertaking for all concerned. Smith was acting without the consent of his partners on the Executive Council, notably Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, who had joined the interim government last March. Nkomo was acting without the support of his colleague, Mugabe. And Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda was hosting the meeting without the express approval of his fellow "frontline" Presidents (Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Agostinho Neto of Angola and Seretse Khama of Botswana), with whom he has been jointly seeking a Rhodesian settlement...
There were several sticking points, notably the question of the makeup of the future army. Smith wanted his Rhodesian security forces to remain in control during the transition period, which could last several months and perhaps a year. Nkomo insisted that the guerrillas should be in charge. Mugabe arrived in Lusaka several days later, was briefed on the Smith meeting by Nigerian officials involved in the negotiations, and then sought the advice of several other African leaders. Both Nyerere and Machel argued that Smith was not really prepared to withdraw in favor of a Patriotic Front-dominated government, and that...
...showdown came when the five front-line Presidents and the Patriotic Front leaders assembled in Lusaka. Kaunda and Angolan President Neto defended Nkomo's action in meeting with Smith, reasoning that any contacts that could end the war and bring the Front to power should be encouraged. Nyerere and Machel accused Nkomo of trying to reach a private agreement with Smith at the expense of Mugabe, and insisted that any negotiation should be conducted through the British government as the legal colonial power in Rhodesia. At one point during the acrimonious nine-hour meeting, Nkomo shouted: "I haven...