ZIMBABWE RHODESIA: Triumphant Return of an Exile

But anger and accusations mar the election campaign

It's a tragedy that we had to fight.

But, having fought, let us now say: 'It is all over.' " Those conciliatory words were spoken by Joshua Nkomo after he emerged from a green and white Zambia Airways jet onto the tarmac of Salisbury airport. The bulky, silver-haired black nationalist leader had returned to Rhodesia, after more than three years of exile, to begin campaigning for next month's independence elections. Because of a flurry of death threats, security at the airport was extremely heavy: grim reminders of lingering white bitterness over Nkomo's role in Rhodesia's bloody seven-year guerrilla war. At nearby Highfield Stadium, however, some 150,000 shouting, ululating African supporters gave a tumultuous welcome to the man they call "Zimbabwe's Savior."

Nkomo's dramatic return came at a time of mounting concern over the stability of the month-old ceasefire. Though more than 21,000 guerrilla troops have gathered peacefully at 16 remote assembly camps, several thousand others remain at large in the bush. There have been at least 38 confirmed cease-fire violations and 158 deaths since the agreement took effect on Dec. 21. British officials say Nkomo's ZIPRA forces appear to be honoring the truce far more scrupulously than the more numerous ZANLA troops loyal to Robert Mugabe, Nkomo's co-leader in the now divided Patriotic Front alliance.

A spokesman for Lord Soames, Rhodesia's British caretaker governor, last week charged Mugabe's Mozambique-based forces with flagrant cease-fire violations. Soames extended the state of emergency, which was due to expire this week, for another six months. From the

Mozambican capital of Maputo, Mugabe bitterly accused Soames of trying to sabotage his election chances. Said he: "I never knew they [the British] were capable of this dishonesty. It's really shocking."

Mugabe was not alone in his anger.

Soames has recently received a barrage of criticism from both Patriotic Front wings, as well as their allies in the frontline and Commonwealth states. Critics of the British viceroy accuse him of blatant bias for authorizing the Rhodesian security forces to track down and shoot guerrillas who "unlawfully" remain outside the cease-fire camps. Claiming that 17 of his men were killed by the Rhodesians last week while trying to get to a camp, Nkomo demanded that the 1,200-man Commonwealth observer force be reinforced by 5,000 or 10,000 additional troops.

The governor has also been attacked for violating the peace settlement by allowing a 250-man South African army unit to remain just inside the border at Beitbridge to protect the vital rail bridge linking the two countries. Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere made blustering threats to break off relations with Britain unless Soames ousts Pretoria's troops and stops deploying the Rhodesian security forces.

Perhaps the most embarrassing rebuke came from the London-based Amnesty International, which charged the British administrators with violating human rights in Rhodesia. This charge stems mainly from Soames' continued detention of political offenders under the state of emergency regulations.

British officials remain confident that the cease-fire will hold, largely because the guerrillas' economically ailing frontline allies are determined to avoid any resumption of civil war. Mozambique's President Samora Machel, for example, supports Mugabe, but he is also committed to peaceful relations with the new Zimbabwe regime regardless of the election's outcome. Machel underscored that commitment last week by reopening his border to Rhodesia for the first time since 1976. Within days, Rhodesians were eating prawns and butterfish in the port of Beira, while Mozambican railway and trade officials were flying to Salisbury to begin re-establishing commercial ties.

The long-range economic and political future of Zimbabwe Rhodesia ultimately hinges on the outcome of the elections. Voting separately, whites will fill 20 seats and blacks 80 seats in the new 100-member House of Assembly. Though no fewer than ten black parties are in the running, the real contest boils down to three men: Nkomo, Mugabe and former Prime Minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa.

Since no one appears strong enough to win an outright majority, some sort of coalition government seems inevitable. Muzorewa, whose party polled 67% of the vote last April (without Patriotic Front participation), should retain a substantial bloc. His party is by far the best organized, and he will surely benefit from the rift within the Patriotic Front. Some observers feel that Nkomo's recently adopted conciliatory tone suggests a pragmatic attempt to forge links with whites as well as other black factions, including members of the Bishop's own party. Mugabe, who has yet to return to Rhodesia and begin campaigning, apparently hopes to win an outright majority and is wary of any political pacts. Thus internal divisions within the black parties could well leave the balance of power in the hands of the 20 white M.P.s and their presumed leader, former Prime Minister Ian Smith.