Wednesday, October 28, 1998 Published at 10:29 GMT
De Klerk accusations cut from report
FW de Klerk attempted to stop the publication of the report
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa has removed criticism of former President FW de Klerk from its final report.
The report is believed to link Mr de Klerk, the last president before the end of apartheid, to the bombing of anti-apartheid offices in the 1980s.
Commission chairman Bishop Desmond Tutu is quoted as saying the commission needs time to prepare to fight the legal challenge, and would "excise" De Klerk's name from the report to avoid delaying its release.
Mr de Klerk, a cabinet minister at the time of the bombings, is not accused of authorising them.
But according to the South African Sunday Times newspaper, the TRC report maintains that Mr de Klerk knew of the involvement of the then Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok and the then Police Commissioner Johan van der Merwe in the bombings, but failed to report them.
Mr Vlok subsequently applied to the TRC for amnesty.
The TRC report may include recommendations of further legal action against people believed to have played a central role in abuses.
Mr de Klerk, who was a member of President PW Botha's cabinet at the time of the bombings, has repeatedly denied that he was party to the killing of apartheid's enemies.
Parties 'could reject report'
Meanwhile the ruling ANC has issued a rebuttal of TRC accusations that it was responsible for torture and needless killings.
And commentators in South Africa say at least three parties are expected to reject the TRC report altogether:
'Leading figures warned'
The Sunday Times reported that around 200 high-profile figures had been warned by the TRC to expect damaging allegations against them. People said to have received warnings include:
The leaked document reportedly accuses the ANC of torture and other human rights violations while in exile, and of carrying out badly-planned bomb attacks causing unnecessary loss of life.
However, the report also acknowledges that the ANC was waging a legitimate struggle against apartheid, and is expected to place overwhelming blame for the era's abuses on successive white governments.