Zimbabwe talks ‘near failing’

Press, 6 December 1979, Page 8

Zimbabwe talks ‘near failing’

NZPA-Reuter London: Britain has said the three-' month-old Zimbabwe Rhodesia peace conference in London may fail unless final agreement is reached this, week. The warning, from a Brit- 1 ish Government spokesman,: Mr Nicholas Fenn, came after Zimbabwe Rhodesian guerrillas rejected British attempts to persuade them to agree to a cease-fire. "If there is not final agreement, including agreement on implementation of a cease-fire, in the course of this week, peace may never be achieved at all,” Mr Fenn told reporters. The Patriotic Front guerrillas. the bi-racial Salisbury Administration, and Britain have hammered out terms for new elections and legal independence for Zimbabwe Rhodesia. But the conference has been deadlocked since

: Friday over arranging a cease-fire in the seven-year ) bush war. “There is so much common ground it would be a tragedy if agreement eluded' us,” Mr Fenn said. He re-: [ported behind-the-scenes' contacts, but there was no I public sign of Britain or the guerrillas softening their 1 stand. The British Foreign Secre-i • tary (Lord Carrington), the conference chairman, is I insisting that the Patriotic . Front give a firm response , to his cease-fire plan, f But the guerrillas are still r demanding changes. 3 Earlier, the Patriotic Front leaders, Mr Joshua Nkomo - and Mr Robert Mugabe, told ; a press conference that 1 South Africa was pouring s troops into Rhodesia, and 1 that all foreign forces and » mercenaries should be with- *[ drawn. s' Mr Fenn later replied

there would be no question k •1 of foreign units operating in 1 Rhodesia under a Britisn governor. 1 It is planned that the gov- J I ernor will run the country between the cease-fire and 1 fresh elections. ■ ’ One new element has emerged; the British said ' they had expanded a pro- 1 i posed Commonwealth peace- 1 ■ keeping force to 1200, three 1 s ; times the figure they origi- ' ; nally suggested. The force will be drawn ’ i from Britain, Australia, New I Zealand, Kenya, and Fiji.!, liThe guerrillas say it will be ■ dominated by whites, and [ they want more contingents: 5 from black Commonwealth j States such as Jamaica. t| In Salisbury, the Zim- ’ b'abwe Rhodesian capital, the i police yesterday probed an I 1 apparent plot to kill Mr -■Nkomo and his senior aide,: I Mr Cephas Msipa, as fen1 geance for the shooting ;

down of two airliners by 1 Nkomo forces. A single shot fired 1 through a bedroom window i of Mr Msipa’s house on 1 Tuesday narrowly missed his f wife, lying on the bed. 1 In a bizarre follow-up, an t anonymous telephone caller 1 with an improbable Ameri- i can accent drew Mr Msipa’s j attention to an advertisement in the guns-for-sale j column of the “Herald” < newspaper. ( The advertisement read “American Ml 6 assault rifle , with two rounds. Will be ' 'used twice,” and gave Mr < Msipa’s telephone number. The high-velocity weapon, a rarity in the country, was ‘ offered at the low price of ' $3OO, and potential buyers 1 were invited to telephone at 1 night. I | Mr Msipa said the • anonymous caller had told I [him the two bullets were forp him and Mr Nkomo. now! I [attending the London talks. I'