Patriotic Front heads likely to enter election as rivals

Press, 26 December 1979, Page 6

Patriotic Front heads likely to enter election as rivals

NZPA Dar-es-Salaam. (Tanzania) lhe strong likelihood that the two wings of the Patriotic Front guerrilla alliance will contest the March elections in Rhodesia separately has emerged in Dar-es-Sa- ! laam. The Front's co-leader.l Robert Mugabe, head of the Zimbabwe African National Union, told journalists: “If. we fee! that we can win better by fighting as two separate parties with perhaps some understanding at the end of it, we will do precisely that.’’ He said the general view expressed to him within his I party was hat it would be' better for Z.A.N.U. and' Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe, Africa Peoples Union to con-, test the poll separately, be-i cause otherwise there were J bound to be several contradictions. "We can't go to elections anyway as one party,” Mr: Mugabe said. "We can only, go to elections on the bas : s| of some agreed plan.” But he did not rule out completely that Z.A.N.U. and z.A.P.U. riuld fight the elections together. He said the two parties would meet in the Tanzanian capital the coming week-end: er early next week to discuss the matte., after he has met his central committee in Mozambique. Mr Nkomo is] expected about the time Mr' Mueabe eventually returns. Mr Mueabe said he would go to Salisbury only when the cease-fire was effective. | In Salisbury, the Rhode-! sian police have dispersed a mass rally by followers of the guerrilla leader. Robert Mugabe, as Britain prepared to deploy a Commonwealth' force in the Rhodesian bush' to monitor the cease-fire. 1

Lord Soames at the weekend lifted the long-standing-bans on both wings of the Patriotic Front. The move has released a wave of political fervour in Salisbury’s African town-i ■ ships and about 25,000 oft ,Mr Mugabe’s followers took! Ito the streets, a day after , his former home was at-1 tacked by gunmen who wounded two of his nephews. The demonstration in Seko township coincided with a ( far smaller rally by Mr I ' Nkomo’s followers, for which the police had granted . permission. I The police had not, how-1 Jever, approved the pro-Mu-l i gabe rally and riot forces in armoured truck moved in, I ordering the demonstrators! Ito disperse. ’[ Mr Mugabe’s followers de- ' fied the police order four times before their leaders j . persuaded them to go home,; ’ witnesses said. ,! At Salisbury Airport, the huge American-backed airlift Jof men and equipment for 1 the cease-fire monitoring; j force continued with trans- i port planes bringing in some| ’iof the British troops who; (will be deployed in the bush ’before December 28, the I deadline for the guns to fall 'silent. British officers emphasised I ’‘that their role was to moni-j tor, not enforce, a cease-fire. I r| General John Acland, mill-( ' tary adviser to Lord Soames, j ] said he hoped Patriotic ! i Front liaison officers would I iarrive today to accompany; J his men to the bush assem-l t bly points. The Com-1 monwealth forces, from Brit-[ f ain, Australia, New Zealand.; i Fiji, and Kenya, is also to ; ! monitor Rhodesian forces in ptheir bases. 1 General Acland praised

the guerrilla leaders for their “notable effort” in trying to get word of the cease-fire through to their estimated 16,000 men inside Rhodesia. | But, he said, some guer(rillas had already turned to individual banditry and would probably not heed the cease-fire call. General Acland said his men would be permitted to shoot back in self-defence. He disclosed that negotiations were under way with (unspecified neighbouring 'countries, presumably Zamllbia and Mozambique, to (allow Commonwealth monitoring forces to go beyond Rhodesia’s borders. i; Brigadier John Learmont, (the operational commander ,|of the monitering force, told la news conference that there would be only 17 Commonwealth troops at each ‘assembly point and 10 at /each rendezvous point. I Military sources said that up to 1000 armed guerrillas could congregate at any of (the assembly points, leaving (the Commonwealth force in if the cease-fire (breaks down. ; The brigadier said he was /depending heavily on swift /communications between the remote assembly points and (his headquarters so that (reinforcements could be sent (in if necessary. I Meanwhile, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, and Tanzania, the “front--line” States who have supported the guerrillas since |the war began, have lifted I sanctions against Rhodesia ;and restored transport links.' (The United Nations Security (Council, which imposed the (sanctions, lifted them last Friday.