Soviets to Send Aid, S. Africa Rebel Leader Says

Oliver Tambo, head of the African National Congress, said Thursday after making a request for Soviet weapons that his organization will step up its armed attacks all across South Africa next month.

Tambo told a news conference that the ANC looks to Moscow and other socialist countries for arms as well as food, clothing and vehicles for its guerrilla units.

“We see in the near future a substantial stepping up of our offensive, not only near the Mozambique border but throughout the country,” he said.

“When it happens, Pretoria will use it as an excuse to invade peace-loving neighboring states. . . . The people’s army has sunk its roots among the people and it cannot be extricated.”

Tambo said he had met with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and was given assurances of support in the struggle to topple the South African government.

“We draw immense satisfaction and inspiration from the fact that the Soviet Union is resolved to contribute everything within its possibilities,” Tambo said.

He said Gorbachev told him that the African National Congress is “the very force which will open the future for South Africa.”

Moscow a ‘Genuine Ally’

Tambo described the Soviet Union as a “genuine ally” in the battle against apartheid and said it is not acting out of selfish reasons or trying to establish a sphere of influence in southern Africa.

He could not put a monetary value on the weapons the Soviet Union has offered to provide, he said, adding: “Not that we’re getting shiploads of weapons. I don’t know the price of these weapons. How much do 100 AK’s cost?”

The AK-47 is the Kalashnikov assault rifle used by Soviet troops and exported to many other countries and guerrilla movements.

Tambo said that other countries, among them Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada, provide financial assistance but that only the Soviet Union and its East Bloc allies will supply weapons.

“And we need weapons,” he said.

In addition to arms and other supplies, he said, the Soviet Union also provides training for African National Congress cadres. He said the ANC may soon set up a mission here, possibly with diplomatic status.

Little Praise for U.S.

While praising the Soviet Union, Tambo had little good to say about the United States. President Reagan has personally condemned the ANC as a terrorist organization with Communist leanings, although other U.S. officials have met with the ANC or indicated a willingness to meet with its spokesmen.

Tambo said Tuesday’s elections in the United States “in part represented a vote against the pro-apartheid policies of the U.S. government.” He said the results of the elections create the strong possibility of imposing comprehensive and mandatory sanctions against South Africa.

He said his recent meetings with British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and with Chester A. Crocker, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, showed that the governments in London and Washington are catching up with public opinion.

Therefore, he said, the meetings were “of great significance to us.”

He quoted Crocker as saying, “It’s not that we agree with you, or even like you, but you’re a part of South African reality--we can’t avoid you.” Tambo said he expects to meet Secretary of State George P. Shultz in the near future.

He said the South African government’s state of emergency, now in its fifth month, shows that it is desperate to maintain control of the country.

“The Pretoria regime is caught in a deep crisis from which it cannot extricate itself,” he said. “Whatever it does, including the imposition of a vicious state of emergency and the latest reshuffle of the apartheid Cabinet, will not save it from defeat and destruction.”