Word: klerk
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Thought communism was dead? Not in South Africa, where the party is unashamedly resurrecting itself -- to the evident horror of President F.W. de Klerk. Last week the government arrested at least seven party activists, charging them with plotting to stage an armed insurrection by the African National Congress if negotiations to draft a new nonracial constitution fail...
...Komplot," so dubbed by the Afrikaans press, may at least temporarily derail the fragile talks and even sour the personal relationship between De Klerk and Nelson Mandela, which seems so crucial to the success of the peace process. The affair goes to the heart of the impasse that has been holding up negotiations: the A.N.C. refuses to suspend its armed struggle until the government lifts tough security measures and releases political prisoners, but De Klerk is reluctant to take such steps while the threat of violence remains...
...leader Joe Slovo returned in triumph from exile in April and scheduled a huge welcome-back rally in Soweto this week. Since the communists have long been a powerful part of the black nationalist movement, Slovo was named to the five-man A.N.C. delegation slated to meet with De Klerk this week...
...government claims that Slovo and other leading communists in the A.N.C. met secretly in the Natal province town of Tongaat last May to discuss a plan code-named Operation Vula to seize power by force if negotiations fail. The meeting, De Klerk suggested, violated the agreement between the government and the A.N.C. to create a peaceful climate for negotiations. Government officials say that in smashing the plot, police uncovered weapons such as rocket- propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles...
...Mandela a powerful hand to play when he and other A.N.C. officials eventually sit down to negotiations with the Pretoria government. It would also help Mandela when he arrives next week in Britain, where Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been anxious to reward South Africa for the gestures De Klerk has made...