Nyerere tells mission talks would be pointless

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 7

Nyerere tells mission talks would be pointless

NZPA-Reuter Dar-es-Salaam; I The British envoy, T Cledwyn Hughes, will leave; 1 Tanzania today on the sec-J ond stage of his mission to assess prospects for an all-;' parties- conference on Rhodesia aimed at ending the six-year guerrilla war and i establishing black-majority I rule. i A British official travelling with the veteran Parliamentarian and former ; Cabinet Minister said earlier ‘that Mr Hughes’s next destination had not been fixed. The strongest possibility . was that it would be either 1 Mozambique or Zambia, the .; neighbouring black States ; which provide bases for the ; Rhodesian guerrillas fighting [ to overthrow the Salisbury (Administration. Mr Hughes, a 63wear-old' ; Welsh lawyer, was sent to i f southern Africa by the British Prime Minister (Mr James Callaghan) who has ; said he is willing to preside ; at a Camp David-style Rho- ; desian summit meeting in ; England early next year. Travelling with Mr 1 ; Hughes is an American exjpert on Rhodesia, Stephen (Low, the United States Am'lbassador to Zambia. ;! Mr Hughes talked for an; i’hour on Wednesday with the 'Tanzanian President (Dr, . Julius Nyerere), dubbed “the

father of our struggle” by.c the guerrilla leader, Robert Mugabe, and “the evilh genius behind the war” by; the Rhodesian Prime Minis-! [ter (Mr lan Smith). Dr Nyerere is chairman of the five “front-line” States' which support the guerrillas.; Mr Hughes is expected to! visit all five — Zambia, Mo-; zambique. Botswana, and [ Angola are the others — as well as Rhodesia, South Africa, and Nigeria. [ The Tanzanian leader told; Mr Hughes there was no! point in holding an all-party; conference until Rhodesia! had agreed to the main parts! of the Anglo-American peace! plan, devised as a basis for negotiations 14 months ago. I Dr Nyerere pointed out; that the Mozambique-based! [Mr Mugabe and the Zambia-' [based guerrilla leader Joshua Nkomo had agreed to the main points of the plan. : The Tanzanian President has called for shuttle diplo- . macy to establish what areas of agreement, exist on, the plan, and Mr Hughes! ■ said on arrival in Dar-es-Sa-' . laam on Tuesday that he , was willing to begin such a ! mission. In Rhodesia an American' 11 missionary who usually tends i his parish in eastern Rho- -■ desia with a gun in one ;;hand and a Bible in the

other, has been wounded in | a black nationalist guerrilla > i ambush. i Dr Jim Dearmore, aged 48, j an Independent Baptist from; Dallas, Texas, was taken to ‘ lUmtali Hospital with* [multiple shrapnel wounds. | A black police sergeant iwho was with Dr Dearmore* ■when the ambush was; sprung near his mission station in White Waters Valley I south of Umtali was also! (wounded. 11 Rhodesia has disclosed! rthat its six-year-old bush* iwar is taking an increasing J economic toll, which has ijnow reached “50,000 Rhode-' I sian dollars (more than! ■ISNZ100,000) a day. ! The cost of the war was, :i revealed when the Govern-! I Intent presented suppiemen-1 -itary estimates to Parliament' i adding SNZ26 million to its! ;| original military budget for | (the current financial year! tending next June, bringing! .'the total to SNZ3BO million. I t| The transitional Govern-! i ment has also asked Parlia-! > ment for $NZ358,000 to : ■ spend on publicity for! >maj o r i t y-rule elections,! i scheduled for next April 20. | The extra spending takes! i Rhodesia’s budget deficit! d, for the year to SNZ39O mil-j ■ lion. The Government plans s'to bridge the gap by borrow-! s ing at home and abroad.