Word: rhodesians
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...this stage would merely encourage the delegations to stick stubbornly to their proclaimed positions, Chairman Richard shifted his focus. He held a series of bilateral talks to identify grounds for possible compromises and then persuaded the heads of the five delegations to discuss with him a specific date for Rhodesian independence. Although nothing substantive was decided at the first of the informal sessions-and though fixing a date would not get to the heart of those issues blocking a transfer of power-Richard at least got the delegation heads to sit literally elbow to elbow around a circular table...
...recent Rhodesian raids into Mozambique...
Dressed for the part, Ivor Richard, 44, Britain's Ambassador to the United Nations and currently chairman of the Rhodesian conference in Geneva, would make a splendidly old-fashioned John Bull. Burly, ebullient and pipe smoking, the bespectacled barrister is anything but timid-the description Nationalist Leader Joshua Nkomo applied to the British role in the negotiations. That much, at least, was made clear two days before the conference opened when Richard waded into what he called a "good verbal punch-up" with a member of an African nationalist delegation...
What upset black Rhodesian leaders was that Britain had not seen fit to send Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland to the conference. This omission seemed to confirm their long-held view that Britain, once again, was evading its responsibility for the Rhodesian drama. The African delegates hastened to make clear that their objections were not to Richard personally. Even Robert Mugabe, regarded as the most militant of the delegation leaders, stressed that "the view we hold is by no means an attack on the chairman." Bishop Abel Muzorewa went further, saying, "I think he could become a tremendous chairman...
...goes well, obviously, some of the glitter is going to rub off," he says. "If it goes badly, presumably a fair amount of odium will rub off. That's just a fact of life." To the extent that his future depends on his success at the Rhodesian conference, what is good for Ivor Richard may very well be good for Britain...