Rhodesia's last white minority ruler dies

Rhodesia's last white minority ruler dies
20/11/2007 - 20:24:49

Ian Smith, the last prime minister of white-ruled Rhodesia, whose attempts to resist black rule dragged the country now known as Zimbabwe into isolation and civil war, has died, according to a family friend. He was 88.

Mr Smith died at a clinic near Cape Town, South Africa, according to long-time friend Sam Whaley. He had recently suffered a stroke.

Mr Smith unilaterally declared the country’s independence from its colonial power, Britain, on November 11, 1965. He then served as the prime minister of Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979 during white minority rule. The country failed to gain international recognition and United Nations economic sanctions were instituted.

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He finally bowed to international pressure and Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party won elections in 1980.

To many white Rhodesians, he was a kind of idol. To most blacks, his rule symbolised the worst of racial oppression.

Mr Whaley, who was a senator in the former Rhodesia and a legal expert for Smith’s party, said he had received a phone call from a friend of Smith’s stepdaughter, Jean Tholet, in Cape Town about Smith’s death.

“He was a man of grit and courage,” Mr Whaley said.

“I am sure that he is happy that he hasn’t had to hold back any more,” he said in reference to his final weeks clinging to life.

Source: Breakingnews.ie