SOUTH AFRICA: ACQUITTAL FOR APARTHEID OFFICIAL

The head of the chemical and biological weapons program under the former
apartheid government was acquitted of murder, drug dealing and fraud. A
judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove the charges, including
accusations that Dr. Wouter Basson had conspired to supply deadly drugs to
the apartheid-era defense force to murder black activists. Testimony at the
trial said the targets had included Nelson Mandela. Prosecutors, who spent
more than two years trying the case, said they would appeal.