Zimbabwe blast probed

Press, 21 December 1981, Page 8

Zimbabwe blast probed

NZPA-Reuter Salisbury Police forensic experts sifted the rubble of the Salisbury headquarters of Zimbabwe’s ruling 2ANU-PF party at the week-end for clues to who planted a bomb which killed six people and injured 85 on Saturday. ZANU-PF’s president, the Prime Minister (Mr Robert Mugabe) said the bombing was a horrific act; but pledged that it would not disrupt the running of the party or. Government. .. He left Salisbury yesterday at the head of a g.enior Ministerial delegation a five-day official visit to neighbouring Mozambique. The police said yesterday they had made no arrests in connection with the explosion which' also destroyed a bakery and transformed a main city street thrdftged with shoppers into a■‘ grim scene of injury and lyrdckage.

A police spokesman said it was estimated that the blast was caused by the equivalent of about 80kg of plastic explosive and that many more people would have been killed if they had not been out of the building for lunch. Mr Mugabe repeated a warning that certain people in the country were no longer contributing to his

policy of reconciliation which is intended to heal wounds left by the seven-year war between the white minority and black nationalists before Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe. “There are certain groups of people who have rejected the spirit of reconciliation,” he said.

The bombing of the offices appears- certain to increase the strain on Zimbabwe’s shaky'race relations. / There were several ugly incidents in the area immediately after the explosion as blacks took out their shock and anger on whites, assaulting at least two people and kicking passing cars. A Zimbabwean newspaper reported yesterday that the bombing was aimed at assassinating Mr Mugabe and “the core of Zimbabwe’s political leadership” in a bid to plunge the nation “into chaos."

The “Sunday Mail," controlled by the Governmentfinanced Mass Media Trust, said the bomb was “set to go off at a time when the Prime Minister ... and Several of his Cabinet Ministers normally stage a top-level meeting in the building.” Mr Mugabe was with his Ghanaian-born wife, Sally, at his official residence skm away at the time.