Exile
The Herald, Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper, reported on 20 December 2000 that Walls had secretly returned to Zimbabwe and was seen fundraising for the Movement for Democratic Change. Obert Mpofu, ZANU-PF party Deputy Secretary for Security, said he saw Walls near the Victoria Falls. Walls denied the accusation, saying, "It's total utter bloody rubbish. I haven't been out of the Eastern Cape this year, except to go to Johannesburg once. I haven't been in Zimbabwe since I left in 1980. I have no connection with any group whatsoever in Zimbabwe." The Daily News later reported the government had confused Walls with Peter Wells, an English agronomist who visited Harare to assist poor farmers with water management.
Four men beat and stabbed Walls' son, George, at 10:30pm on 23 February 2001 in Harare. The men, who identified themselves as veterans of the Bush War, stopped Walls' car and demanded to know his father's location. They insisted Peter was hiding in Zimbabwe and began to kick and punch him, cutting his face with a stick and stabbing him in his right thigh.
British General Walter Walker described Walls in The Bear at the Back Door as a:
| “ | ...real professional, a true and inspiring leader, a man of decision and action who radiates confidence. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Peter Walls
Famous quotes containing the word exile:
“Public employment contributes neither to advantage nor happiness. It is but honorable exile from one’s family and affairs.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass. Armenian refugees, Jewish refugees, refugees from Franco Spain. But a political leader or artistic figure is an exile. Thomas Mann yesterday, Theodorakis today. Exile is the noble and dignified term, while a refugee is more hapless.... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one’s country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)