Word: rhodesia
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...internal settlement that Prime Minister Smith worked out last March with three moderate black leaders?Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau?had not been expected to provide an easy transition to black majority rule in Rhodesia. Last week it was clear that Smith's settlement plan had not only faltered, but might be close to failure...
Smith had relied on the promises of his three black colleagues in Rhodesia's interim government that they could persuade large numbers of guerrillas to defect, thereby taking the sting out of the debilitating bush war. Instead, guerrilla attacks have increased in strength and boldness. Today, Rhodesia's main highways, and not just back-country roads, are perilous for convoys. A few months ago, isolated farms, missions and villages were the main targets for guerrillas belonging to the Patriotic Front. Salisbury's outskirts are checkered with new shanty towns, as blacks flee tribal lands for the safety of the city...
Christmas Eve has been set as the deadline for Rhodesia's Parliament to elect the first head of state of an independent, majority-ruled Zimbabwe. Many whites believe that any election carried out under the present wartime conditions would be a farce. Although the black leaders in the interim government appear powerless to influence the guerrillas, they are still determined to keep to the transition schedule. Warned Muzorewa Aide George Nyandoro last week: "If the whites make any attempt to reverse the move toward independence, there will be a racial bloodbath...
...leaving Salisbury at year's end, when the transition is scheduled to take effect, are already heavily booked. Some parents of white youths conscripted for the army's security operations are refusing to let their sons serve. Among whites who remain, observed M.P. Ronald Goddard in a speech to Rhodesia's House of Assembly, "morale has never been lower...
...government did not help improve the white mood by announcing last week that the country, thanks to the war costs and the continuing economic sanctions, faced a whopping deficit of $425 million in the next fiscal year. As a result, Rhodesia's 80,000 taxpayers?almost all of them whites?will be required to contribute an extra 12˝% of their incomes to the government in the form of war loans that are theoretically repayable in three years?well after the date of independence...