Ian Smith returns to Zimbabwe, urges Mugabe's resignation

Ian Smith, the last white leader of the country formerly known as Rhodesia, arrives in Zimbabwe on Tuesday despite a threat of arrest

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith returned to Zimbabwe from Britain on Tuesday, dismissing threats he would be arrested and calling on President Robert Mugabe to resign.

"He must heed calls from his own people because he has destroyed this country. We cannot afford him anymore," the 81-year-old Smith told reporters at Harare's international airport.

He added that he did not think Mugabe would remain in power "past Christmas."

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Mugabe, 76, said last month he would put whites on trial and revoke the racial reconciliation policy adopted at independence in 1980. He said whites backed by Britain and the United States were trying to destabilize the country.

Smith said he was warmly greeted and welcomed by passport officials in Harare.

"I don't have any case to answer. Do you think I have?" Smith asked reporters and a small crowd, including family and friends, who had gathered for his arrival.

There were no policemen in evidence at the airport.

Smith ruled the former Rhodesia for 14 years after 1965, when he led 250,000 whites in a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain rather than accept black rule.

He was forced into a cease-fire and political settlement in 1979 after a costly seven-year war against guerrillas led by Mugabe and other Zimbabwean black nationalist leaders.

Mugabe has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1980 and has resisted calls for his resignation in the face of a growing economic and political crisis.

A survey conducted by polling firm Gallup International and released last month by a pro-democracy group showed that one in two Zimbabweans want Mugabe to resign and face prosecution for alleged human rights crimes.

The survey showed that 51 percent wanted Mugabe to quit before his six-year presidential term expires in 2002.

His ruling ZANU-PF party narrowly won June parliamentary elections, which were marred by violence and farm invasions by veterans of the 1970s independence war.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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