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GV People standing in front of Tsanga Lodge rehabilitation home, Inyanga, Rhodesia.
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MV Wounded troops seated around table in grounds. (3 shots)
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MV INTERIOR Cameraman with audience. (2 shots)
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MV Rhodesian Foreign Minister Pieter Van der Byl speaking with audience looking on. (3 shots)
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TRANSCRIPT: SEQ. 4: VAN DER BYL: "A loathsome and savage foe howls at our gate, backed by the Russians and succoured and comforted by those who should, in fact, be our friends. Every imaginable pressure there is brought to bear on us by those who've little regard for the peace and happiness of our people. To come to terms and settle at any cost, we must make, and no matter what the rebuffs, continue to make every effort to ensure that settlement which might mean the end of the war and the necessity for our people to die and to fight."



But we must not and we will not and indeed we cannot come to any accommodation which is not in keeping with the ideals and the objectives for which these men laid down their lives. And if the forces of raids against us should become immeasurably stronger, there can be no question of surrender. Every inch of the ground will be fought for. We will contest every hill, and every river, every village and every town, every crossroad and every bridge. Inevitably and unavoidably the land will suffer. Indescribable chaos and irreparable chaos will follow. But come what may, we will uphold the ideals for which these men fought. We cannot let them down."




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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Rhodesia's white minority government has issued a defiant "no surrender" challenge to nationalist guerrillas fighting for black majority rule. Rhodesian Foreign Minister, Pieter Van der Byl, said on Sunday (26 June) that his country would fight for every inch of ground rather than surrender to what he called a "loathsome and savage foe".

The white minority Rhodesia government claims its forces have killed 2,623 guerrillas in four years of the war with black nationalists. The Rhodesian military says it has lost 357 men in action, including 23 this month (June).

SYNOPSIS: The Foreign Minister's comments came during the opening of a memorial hall to Rhodesian war dead at the army's Tsanga Lodge rehabilitation centre. Tsanga Lodge lies near Rhodesia's eastern border with Mozambique at Inyanga -- an area that has seen much of the fighting between Rhodesian security forces and black nationalist guerrillas.