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...carry out its United Nations-supervised transition toward independence. There were only a few clashes between guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization and local and South African security forces; the fighting had killed 293 during the first three weeks of the transition. Some 1,000 SWAPO forces remained in Namibia rather than returning to bases more than 100 miles north, beyond the border in Angola...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Namibia: Wary Peace, No Retreat | 4/24/1989 | See Source »

...well-trained forces of the South West Africa Police, including former members of the notorious "Koevoet" (crowbar) counterinsurgency unit, were waiting for the guerrillas. In the first large-scale clashes near the border town of Ruacana, 38 SWAPO guerrillas were mowed down by machine-gun fire, while two policemen were killed and 14 wounded. Elsewhere, the guerrillas fared little better. All told, at least 260 guerrillas and 28 Namibian security police were killed. UNTAG, which had less than one-fourth of its planned force on hand and barely 200 soldiers in the area of fighting, could do no more than...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Namibia Botching the Peace | 4/17/1989 | See Source »

...SWAPO incursions allowed South Africa, which agreed to the independence plan only grudgingly, a rare opportunity to cry foul. Calling the violations a "grave situation," Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha warned that the Namibian peace process "could collapse within hours." Pretoria applied pressure on UNTAG's Finnish commander, Martti Ahtisaari, to reactivate some South African military forces and ordered others back to service on its own. Backed by Western public opinion for once, South Africa continued to threaten an end to the treaty. Declared Foreign Minister Botha: "SWAPO must surrender, lay down their arms, hoist a white flag...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Namibia Botching the Peace | 4/17/1989 | See Source »

...Exiled SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma insisted that his men had already been inside the country, but his eleventh-hour bid to establish a military presence made little sense. Militarily, the guerrillas invited maximum reprisals by Namibian security forces that were all too ready and able to oblige. Politically, the bloody incursions gave the guerrillas' opponents ammunition to challenge their claim that they are the "sole and authentic" representative of Namibia's 1.25 million people...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Namibia Botching the Peace | 4/17/1989 | See Source »

...SWAPO is still expected to win a majority in next November's elections. But to gain complete control over the assembly that will write Namibia's new constitution, a party must capture two-thirds of the total vote, and there is considerable doubt that SWAPO can do that. It will face at least six opponents, the strongest being the moderate Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, a mixed-race consortium of ethnically based parties with considerable appeal to Namibia's 80,000 whites. Says Alliance Chairman Dirk Mudge, a white former Finance Minister: "It won't be a SWAPO landslide, believe me." Last...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Namibia Botching the Peace | 4/17/1989 | See Source »

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