African Activist Archive

Report on the talks about Rhodesia in Geneva by Lyle Tatum, who was part of a small, international Quaker team that spent three weeks in Geneva. Tatum wrote this personal view of the talks because he regards the newspaper coverage as inadequate. Tatum says the first four weeks of talks centered on a single issue - a guaranteed date for independence under majority rule, which was insisted on by African nationalists, particularly the Patriotic Front (Nkomo and Mugabe delegations). The report discusses Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front. Tatum says the talks about the structure of the interim government became much more intense. The obvious wide difference between the Africans and the Rhodesian Front on this issue is the immediate hurdle, which Ivor Richard will work with the delegations to address before the conference reconvenes. Tatum says there has been confusion about the political role and relevance of the Zimbabwe guerrilla forces in respect to the Geneva talks and a possible Geneva settlement.

African Activist Archive

THE GENEVA TALKS ON RHODESIA

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