
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 16, 1990                   TAG: 9003162862
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH                                 LENGTH: Short

S. AFRICA SETS TALKS WITH ANC/ MANDELA, DE KLERK TO HEAD DELEGATIONS

The government said today it would begin talks with Nelson Mandela and exiled African National Congress leaders on April 11 to clear the way for formal black-white negotiations on a new constitution.

President F.W. de Klerk's office said in a statement that the president and his Cabinet would meet ANC leaders to deal with "obstacles perceived to obstruct the process toward negotiations."

The statement gave no additional details on the unprecedented talks, and there was no immediate comment from the ANC, the main black group fighting the white government.

Leaders from the ANC's exile headquarters in Zambia are expected to take part. The organization was banned from 1960 until last month, and many ANC leaders will be making their first trip to South Africa since heading into exile more than a quarter-century ago.

De Klerk legalized the ANC and more than 60 other anti-apartheid groups Feb. 2. Nine days later he freed Mandela, who had been imprisoned for more than 27 years for helping to launch the ANC sabotage campaign.

Mandela was in Sweden today, wrapping up a week-long visit during which he saw ANC President Oliver Tambo, who is recovering from a stroke. He was expected to return to South Africa this weekend.

Mandela recently was elected the ANC's deputy president, which makes him effective leader of the organization while the 72-year-old Tambo recuperates.

De Klerk says he wants to negotiate a new constitution that will bring blacks into the national government. However, he opposes the one-man, one-vote system that the ANC and other leading anti-apartheid groups favor.

by CNB