TANZANIA: Nyerere's Appeal for Help

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This gloomy prospect arises because of ideological and tactical disputes between the two wings of the nationalist Patriotic Front—Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union and the Zimbabwe African National Union led by Marxist Robert Mugabe. As more of the Rhodesian countryside falls to the rebels, squabbling over territory could easily flare into fighting. Efforts by Nyerere and other front-line leaders to heal the breach have been to no avail. "We have been working to get them to build a single army, but we have failed,'' admitted Nyerere with a sigh. "What I fear is the possibility that once Smith is out and there is no single army and single authority, then really we can be in trouble. The nationalists have not been very helpful—to themselves, to the future of Zimbabwe —by encouraging a civil war.''

Nyerere believes that this tragic black-against-black conflict—with a built-in potential for interference by outside powers—can be averted by reviving the Anglo-American peace plan. Mugabe and Nkomo have agreed to the proposal, but Smith has not. In essence, the plan calls for Britain to reassert its legal authority over its rebel colony—which unilaterally declared its independence in 1965—as a prelude to holding elections for a new Zimbabwean government. A U.N. peace-keeping force would guarantee a truce until the creation of a unified Zimbabwe army, composed of guerrillas and "acceptable elements" of the Rhodesian armed forces. "You have specific proposals here that one side had accepted, and there is tremendous international support for them," said Nyerere. "Now let's try a little bit of shuttling. We want to know what Smith thinks, what proposals he has accepted. We want the Americans and British to sell peace proposals to Smith, to put pressure on him."

The key word is pressure. Nyerere believes Smith will get down to serious bargaining only after he is convinced that "he cannot count on support from the U.S. and Britain." Two recent events, however, may have reassured Smith that in the final pinch the West will come to his aid: 1) a recent congressional attempt to require the U.S. to lift sanctions against Rhodesia by the end of 1978; and 2) disclosures that past British governments looked the other way when oil companies violated a ban on petroleum shipments to Rhodesia. Nyerere professes to be unconcerned about the past. "The international community can see what's been happening. I leave it to them whether they've contributed to the war, to the killing. I'm more interested in the future. I want to know what they are going to do with the Anglo-American proposals."