(28 Oct 1998) English/Nat
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has agreed to cut out damning allegations that former President F.W. de Klerk knew of apartheid-era atrocities.
The action was taken to stave off a court action by De Klerk, which would have prevented publication of the commission's final report on Thursday.
De Klerk was South Africa's last white president and won the Nobel peace prize for his efforts to abolish Apartheid.
At the end of a visit to London, he welcomed the news of his success.
The commission is due to hand its 3,500 page report on apartheid's grisly past to President Nelson Mandela on Thursday.
The report was expected to name De Klerk in connection with two bomb attacks on anti-apartheid unions and churches in the late eighties.
He wasn't a member of the inner security cabinet at the time.
But the TRC accused him of failing to punish those who were responsible, when he learned about the affair after he became president in 1989.
De Klerk said it was absurd to suggest that he could be held accountable for security force actions committed without his knowledge, which he only learned of later.
He applied to the High Court in Johannesburg for an emergency injunction, which would have prevented the publication of the entire report.
But at the eleventh hour, the Commission agreed to strike out the damning allegations.
As De Klerk headed for his plane following a visit to London, he told reporters he was delighted.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
I'm very satisfied with what has happened today. The Truth Commission was on the verge of making a finding and publishing it for which there is, neither in fact nor in law, any basis. I have achieved my purpose and I am sure and confident that I have a very strong case when the matter is finally, early next year, heard by our courts.
SUPER CAPTION: F.W.De Klerk, former South African President.
President Mandela's African National Party also came under fire in the Truth Commission report.
The ANC is said to have blurred the lines between civilians and military targets in its bombing and landmine campaigns of the 1980s.
It's also alleged to have wrongly tortured and executed exiled supporters suspected of collaborating with the apartheid government.
On Wednesday the ANC said it too was going to court to block the publication of the Commission report.
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