Apartheid Leader Denies ‘88 Bombing

Former President P.W. Botha denied Thursday any involvement in the bombing of a church headquarters in 1988 and told Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, that he had done nothing that would warrant applying for amnesty.

Botha, a bulwark of apartheid during his many years as president, prime minister and defense minister, previously had spurned any involvement with the commission other than to denounce it as a witch hunt.

But he agreed to a private two-hour meeting with Tutu at his retirement house in George. Tutu later held a news conference and Botha issued a statement.

Botha denied ordering the bombings, saying such claims are “based on untested, unconfirmed and unsubstantiated hearsay.”