From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: ZIMBABWE: PRESSURE ON MUGABE TO WITHDRAW TROOPS
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 03:47:23 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Trade & Finance
Title: ZIMBABWE: PRESSURE ON MUGABE TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM MOZAMBIQUE


an inter press service feature

by godfrey karoro

harare, oct 5 (ips) -- although zimbabwe's president robert
mugabe will get much of the credit for the historic signing of
the mozambican ceasefire agreement sunday, he will now come
under pressure to expedite the withdrawal of his army from
the country.

mugabe has maintained a sizeable armed forces around
55,000-strong, with defence spending second only to south africa
in sub-saharan africa. the excuse up to now has been that
pretoria remains a security threat to black-ruled states in the
region.

more directly, zimbabwe has also deployed its forces inside
mozambique to protect the tete, beira and maputo transport
corridors which provide this landlocked country access to the
sea, against sabotage by the south african-sponsored mozambique
national resistance (mnr) rebel movement.

zimbabwean military involvement reached its height in the
late 1980s when around 17,000 troops -- up from a mere 5,000 in
1982 -- were supporting a beleagured mozambican government
against the mnr.

in addition to safeguarding the strategic rail and road
routes, mugabe was repaying a moral debt to mozambique which had
harboured his forces during the liberation war.

a direct consequence for mozambique was the creation of the
mnr by rhodesian intelligence assisted by elements within the
portuguese colonial security service after mozambican
independence in 1975.

with zimbabwean independence in 1980, the mnr came under the
control of the south africans as a tool for their policy of
regional destabalisation in which the transport corridors were a
prime target.

in a partial ceasefire agreement late last year, the mnr
managed to negotiate the withdrawal of all foreign troops from
mozambican teritory except for zimbabweans who were
confined to one kilometre on either side of the corridors, a
concession grudgingly accepted by the mnr.

in compliance, tanzanian troops, based in northern mozambique
to assist the ill-equipped mozambican army, were withdrawn in
1990. (more/ips)


zimbabwe: mugabe (2)

within zimbabwe itself, there have been numerous calls from
human rights organisations, members of parliament and political
opposition groups for the complete withdrawal of the army from
mozambique.

with a tough economic reform programme underway in zimbabwe,
and now the prospect of peace in the region, critics of the
government cite the need to reduce defence spending.

zimbabwe's official defence budget this year was 265 million
u.s. dollars, the second largest allocation after education.
analysts belive that the mozambique operation costs one million
u.s. dollars per day.

but there are pressing political reasons weighing against
mugabe pruning the military.

most of the national army is comprised of former soldiers
from the two liberation armies -- the zimbabwe african national
liberation army (zanla) and the zimbabwe people's revolutionary
army (zipra).

observers here say it would be political suicide for
mugabe to reduce the size of the army at this juncture when the
country is experiencing mass retrenchment as a result of the
economic adjustment programme.

already the country is experiencing an increase in armed
robbery, and sacking soldiers would only worsen the situation.

currently, in an effort to appease disgruntled former
liberation fighters and those who were asked to resign from the
army after independence in 1980, the government has belatedly
tabled a war veterans compensation bill in parliament.

in an interview friday with zimbabwean journalists in the
italian capital, rome, where mozambican president joaquim
chissano and mnr leader afonso dhlakama finally signed the
ceasefire agreement, mugabe reiterated that he will not be
rushed into bringing the troops home.

once security of trade routes is assured, he stressed,
zimbabwe will work out a schedule for their withdrawal.

''if that assurance is given we would be glad to withdraw our
forces to use them inside the country,'' added mugabe.
(end/ips/gk/oa/92)

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