U.K. RHODESIA IMPASSE Ties Strained To Breaking Point

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31623, 8 March 1968, Page 9

U.K. RHODESIA IMPASSE Ties Strained To Breaking Point

CN.Z.P.A.-Keuter— Copyright) SALISBURY, March 7. Rhodesia’s last links with Britain strained to breaking point today and a wave of fury swept across black African States after yesterday’s hanging of three condemned Africans in Salisbury’s Central Prison. Most Rhodesians are left doubting that anything can now be saved of the ties which once bound Britain and this breakaway State.

The stage seems set for an early declaration by Rhodesia of republic status, which is widely regarded in Salisbury as the only course now open to Mr lan Smith’s rebel regime.

Police cars patrolled the streets of Salisbury today as white demonstrators gathered in the city’s main square protesting at the hangings. Pro-Gov-ernment passers-by jeered at the demonstrators, who stood ankle-deep in bouquets of flowers and wreaths just opposite Parliament Housej A group of three women, dressed in black, carried placards reading: “In Memory of Rhodesian Statesmanship” and “In Memory of Rhodesian Justice.”

In the official Rhodesian version of the events leading up to the triple execution, there is one significant point: The Rhodesians exonerate Queen Elizabeth from any personal involvement in the crisis, the gravest that Britain and Rhodesia have faced since the declaration of independence in 1965.

A Government statement, read over radio and television networks at a peak hour last night, declared that the order for a reprieve came from the British Government and was not a personal reprieve by the Queen.

Therefore, the statement said, repercussions of this act would be the responsibility of the British Government, and the British Government alone.

No one in Salisbury takes seriously the warnings from Britain of "grave personal consequences” for those involved in the executions. Since Britain now has no practical say about what goes on in Rhodesia, whatever action she may decide to take now seems to observers merely an academic exercise. Thirteen Afro-Asian nations tabled a resolution in New York last night calling on the United Nations Security Council to take some effective action over what they describe as the “grave situation in Rhodesia.” In Salisbury, the hangings brought a chorus of protests from Rhodesian church leaders, and although most ordinary Rhodesians accept the executions as just and deserved—all three men were

found guilty of particularly brutal murders—there are other signs of unrest. One judge is reported to be thinking about resigning, following the lead of another who. did so in protest against the High Court ruling that the three condemned men, who had been in their cells awaiting execution for more than two years, could not appeal to the Privy Council. This judgment effectively sealed their fate. More Refused Meanwhile, the administration of Rhodesian court justice continues, despite the new upheaval. In the High Court yesterday seven other Africans had their appeals against the death sentence refused. They were nationalist guerrillas caught in a skirmish last August in which three Rhodesian soldiers and one African policeman were killed.

More than 100 Africans are now held in Rhodesian prisons under sentence of death. Their executions have been delayed for months because of legal uncertainties, but many of them now seem certain to go to the gaUows. Counter-blow In the House of Commons, the British Commonwealth Secretary struck the first counter-blow against the Smith regime by announcing that the British Government was taking steps to remove Rhodesia’s Chief Justice (Sir Huge Beadle) from line of succession to the Britishappointed Governor (Sir Humphrey Gibbs), who is not recognised by Rhodesia. Mr, Thomson also hinted at further British measures against the Smith regime when he told the House of Commons he would, after Cabinet discussions, give members “a considered view of the consequences that flow

from the tragic events in Salisbury.” Sir Hugh Beadle was yesterday reported to have left his cottage in the grounds of Government House in Salisbury—where he had lived since Rhodesia's declaration of independence—after an argument With Sir Humphrey Gibbs about the High Court's decision on the appeals of the three condemned men. The Chief Justice had moved into the cottage as a gesture of loyalty to. the Governor, who was dispossessed of his authority by the rebel Rhodesian Government.

Government censors today deleted from the Salisbury daily newspaper, the “Rhodesia Herald,” reports of the international protests against the hangings.