Mandela off
Afrol News (
July 1, 2008
President George W
Bush has finally appended his signatures on the removal of Nelson Mandela, the
former South African President and leader of the governing African National
Congress (ANC), from the
The signing comes
ahead of the 90th birthday on 18 July of the freedom fighter and Nobel Prize
laureate. The latest development authorises the
removal of any reference linking the ANC and its leaders to terrorism from the
It was approved last
week by US Senators before being sent to President Bush.
"Today the
United States moved closer at last to removing the great shame of dishonouring this great leader by including him on our
government's terror watch list," Senator John Kerry said.
A similar bill was
passed by House of Representatives in June when a co-sponsor of the bill,
California Democrat, Barbara Lee expressed delight that "we are taking
this important step to finally right this inexcusable wrong."
The terror watch list
legislation was introduced during the presidency of Ronald Regan in the 1980s.
It only permitted the ANC leaders to travel to United Nations headquarters in
US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice had earlier urged a Senate committee to remove the
restrictions on the ANC, referring it a "rather embarrassing matter that I
still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of
The House Committee
Chairman on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, who had tabled the bill, said it
was "shameful" for the
"Amazingly,
Nelson Mandela still needs to get a special waiver to enter the
ANC - Africa's existing
oldest party - was banned and labeled a terrorist organisation
by the former apartheid government of
Mr. Mandela was
jailed for 27 years before being released. He was voted President of South
Africa in 1994, served only one term in office and retired. The aging leader is
still committed to humanitarian work as evidenced by his participation in a
special