Widening War

Raids on the eve of peace talks

At London's historic Lancaster House, where the talks that led to the independence of so many British colonies took place, Zimbabwe Rhodesia's* Prime Minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa sits down this week with his archenemies Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe, co-leaders of the Patriotic Front. The purpose of the conference, which is sponsored by Britain, is to forge an agreement that may lead to Patriotic Front participation in new elections and an end to the bloody seven-year civil war. With a stable majority-rule government in Salisbury, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher could lift the 13-year-old economic sanctions against Britain's breakaway colony when they expire in November. On the eve of his departure for the peace talks, Muzorewa (along with former Prime Minister Ian Smith) gave an unmistakable sign that he intends to keep up the fight to retain his power: he launched the biggest cross-border strike of the war, a devastating "preemptive" assault on guerrilla bases in neighboring Mozambique.

In addition to attacking Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) guerrillas in the raids, which at week's end were still going on, Zimbabwe Rhodesian commandos for the first time seriously battled Mozambique's supporting army. A communique issued in Salisbury boasted that the strike forces had suffered only 13 fatalities while killing 300 ZANU fighters and Mozambican troops. The Salisbury forces also claimed to have destroyed an armory, radar stations, fuel dumps and other installations in lightning helicopter operations that penetrated as far as 200 miles into Mozambique. The incursion, which Muzorewa said gave "a great start to the day," was launched after Zimbabwe Rhodesian intelligence reported that at least 100 Mozambican officers had slipped across the border to take command of the guerrilla forces fighting the bishop's regime.

Western diplomats in Africa speculated that the raid was aimed at driving a wedge between Mugabe, who has insisted that the war will continue until Muzorewa steps down, and his uneasy partner Nkomo, who seems more willing to compromise with the bishop's regime. While attempting to split his external enemies, the Prime Minister has dealt sternly with his political opponents inside the country. In July, Zimbabwe Rhodesian soldiers shot down at least 183 members of the "private army" of Muzorewa's rival, the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, who finished second to Muzorewa in last April's "majority rule" election. Faced with guerrilla attacks on the outskirts of his capital and the continued exodus of whites, who are fleeing at the rate of 1,000 a month, the bishop explained that "ruthless" action was required. Said he: "We are going to succeed in solving the problems of the country once and for all."

* In a rhetorical repudiation of his country's colonial past, Muzorewa last week ordered that the word Rhodesia be dropped from its name. If the bishop's parliament approves the change, the country will henceforth be known as Zimbabwe, after a black civilization that existed in the area before the coming of the white man.

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