Memorial service held for ex-Rhodesian leader Smith
29 Nov 2007 16:29:52 GMT Source: Reuters
By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Hundreds of ageing, mostly white mourners on Thursday paid their final respects to Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who resisted moves towards black-majority rule in Zimbabwe. Smith, 88, died on Nov. 20 at an old age home near Cape Town, hundreds of miles away from his rival and the man who ended his reign, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Many people reviled him as an enduring symbol of colonial tyranny, while others saw him as a man of unwavering resolve in the face of adversity. At Thursday's service, Smith's stepson Robert reflected briefly on his stepfather's politics and ideals, as the sounds of a piano playing the "Last Post" echoed in the stone-walled St John's Anglican Church in suburban Cape Town. "He was a remarkable man ... Ian Smith was many things to many people - a sportsman, a patriot... a politician, a father," he said. In 1964 Smith was elected prime minister of white-ruled Rhodesia and defied world opinion the following year when he led 270,000 white Rhodesians in a unilateral declaration of independence from Britain rather than accept overtures for majority-black rule. The former World War Two fighter pilot remained in office until a guerrilla war led by Mugabe forced him to accept a ceasefire and political settlement in 1979. "The jury is still out on Rhodesia and Ian Smith," said Robert, adding that he was much loved by both blacks and whites. However, in death, as in life, Smith's departure reflected the lingering racial polarisation which marked his tenure as statesman -- many blacks in Zimbabwe were unmoved by the news. (Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
