Row Averted by Thatcher on Sanctions : South African Curbs to Be Considered at London Meeting

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Sunday appeared to have headed off a potentially ugly confrontation with black African leaders attending a seven-nation Commonwealth mini-summit on South Africa by stressing her opposition to apartheid and her willingness to consider further limited sanctions against the Pretoria government to end it.

At a news conference after the first formal session of the three-day meeting, the chairman, Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling of the Bahamas, told reporters that the seven heads of government have agreed that South Africa has not made adequate progress toward dismantling apartheid since the leaders of all 49 Commonwealth nations first backed a plan of action against South Africa last October in Nassau.

Pindling also said the seven agreed to consider possible further measures against Pretoria at today’s session here.

‘Was No Vitriol’

“Everyone recognized the gravity of the moment and recognized the importance of arriving at a unified decision if possible,” Pindling commented. “Everyone recognized the importance of the Commonwealth, and there was no vitriol.”

In addition to the leaders of Britain and the Bahamas, Zambia’s President Kenneth D. Kaunda and the prime ministers of India, Zimbabwe, Canada and Australia are attending the conference, scheduled to run through Tuesday.

Thatcher’s abrasive style in expressing her opposition to sweeping economic sanctions has angered Kaunda and most other Commonwealth leaders who want tough, immediate action.

Britain’s position is pivotal to any action by the Commonwealth, an organization whose member states share the common bond of once having belonged to the British Empire.

Largest Investor

Britain is the largest foreign investor in South Africa and a leading trading partner, while most other Commonwealth countries have few economic ties with Pretoria.

While Thatcher’s opposition to sanctions is based on the belief that they do not work and would hurt the black majority, she has never ruled out the possibility that she might have to accede to additional punitive measures if pressed to do so to preserve political unity.

Sunday’s meeting indicated that she is now prepared to consider such action.

However, comments by British officials indicated that she might try to link any new Commonwealth sanctions to moves currently under review by leading Western industrial nations, including the United States, which do most of the trading with South Africa.

The 12-nation European Communities, of which Britain is a member, has pledged to consider its own sanctions against Pretoria at a meeting scheduled at the end of next month.

Reagan Reviewing Policy

Pressed by Congress, President Reagan is also reviewing U.S. policy toward South Africa, and senior Administration officials have spoken of the desire to coordinate implementation of any further U.S. action with Britain and other Western nations.

Chester A. Crocker, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, visited London last week for talks with Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and met over the weekend with officials of West Germany, a major South African trading partner also opposed to substantial sanctions.

The seven Commonwealth leaders are officially meeting to review the effectiveness of measures adopted at last October’s Nassau session aimed at pressing South Africa to begin negotiating with black leaders for an end to apartheid.

Will Weigh 8 Sanctions

Sunday’s consensus on the failure of those measures--nine relatively minor sanctions plus a diplomatic mission called the Eminent Persons Group--means the leaders now will consider a specific list of eight additional sanctions.

These include bans on commercial air links, on new private investments, on the import of agricultural products and on the promotion of South African tourism.

Thatcher appeared to defuse the potentially volatile atmosphere that simmered on the eve of the conference by a series of bilateral meetings with Kaunda, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, India’s Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Australia’s Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Pindling, the conference chairman.

A close Thatcher aide said that she stressed her desire for a calm, restrained approach to the meeting and for her wish for a unified outcome.

“She said the meeting wasn’t about ends and that everyone wanted an end to apartheid,” the aide said. “The discussion was over the means.”

The aide stressed that there was no discussion of withdrawals from the Commonwealth or of possible countersanctions against Britain if Thatcher fails to agree to new measures.

“The conference was generally in a flexible frame of mind,” the aide said.

Zambia Threatened Pullout

Kaunda had earlier threatened to pull Zambia out of the Commonwealth in protest of Britain’s position, and it was clear in a television interview before Sunday’s conference that his meeting with Thatcher had not cleared the air completely.

“There is mutual mistrust,” Kaunda said of his relationship with Thatcher. “It is not good for the Commonwealth.”

Much of Sunday’s meeting was taken up by reports of three men who had recently visited South Africa: the two co-chairmen of the Commonwealth’s own diplomatic mission, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and former Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo, and British Foreign Secretary Howe, whose recent trips to southern Africa on behalf of the European Communities failed to budge Pretoria.

Pindling said the men presented similar assessments of conditions in South Africa and South African government intentions.

Agreed on Pretoria’s Aims

“It was remarkable how their views coincided on what they saw and what they heard,” Pindling said. “So much so that there was agreement that there was no real intention on the part of South Africa to dismantle apartheid.”

Although Pindling went on to declare that all seven heads of government also accepted this point, a British source said Thatcher has not reached such a conclusion.

“The prime minister does believe there is some intent (on the part of South Africa),” a member of her staff said.

Sunday evening, the seven leaders dined with Queen Elizabeth II, the titular head of the Commonwealth. Promoting Commonwealth unity has been a centerpiece of the queen’s 34-year reign.