Leader faces criminal charges

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – The newly elected leader of South Africa’s ruling party was ordered to stand trial on corruption and other charges next year, possibly derailing his attempts to become president.

Jacob Zuma will be tried in the High Court in August on charges of racketeering, money laundering, corruption and fraud, his lawyer Michael Hulley said Friday.

Zuma, 65, defeated President Thabo Mbeki last week in a bitterly contested election for the leadership of African National Congress. The battle left deep rifts in the 85-year-old ANC that Nelson Mandela led to victory over the racist apartheid state.

The ANC leader is traditionally the party’s presidential candidate, and its overwhelming backing has ensured election victories first for Mandela in 1994, then Mbeki in 1999 and 2004.

But the prospect of a trial against Zuma raised doubts about whether the party would back his candidacy for the next election in 2009, when Mbeki is constitutionally required to step down.

A popular former guerrilla fighter, Zuma was handing out presents Friday to children at a Christmas party in his rural home village in KwaZulu-Natal. He would not answer questions from reporters about the charges.

Zuma, who was acquitted of rape last year, has denied any corruption and has said prosecutors are trying to smear him for political reasons.

In e-mail to the Associated Press, Hulley accused prosecutors of acting “with improper motive calculated to discredit Mr. Zuma and ensure that he claims no leadership role in the political future of our country.”

Hulley didn’t provide details on the charges, but Zuma has been under investigation in a bribery scandal involving French arms company Thint.