Africa Politics

Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, angered by historic agreements reached by rival Nelson Mandela and President Frederik W. de Klerk, threw the peace process into turmoil Sunday by pulling his party out of constitutional negotiations. Buthelezi, a key figure in black politics, accused De Klerk's government and Mandela's African National Congress of making deals about the country's future during an ANC-government summit meeting Saturday without consulting him and other South African leaders.

Nelson Mandela led tens of thousands of voteless blacks on a spirited protest march Wednesday through the streets of South Africa's capital to the hilltop citadel of white power they long to control. The crowd of nearly 100,000, one of the largest marches in the nation's history, raised the black, green and gold flag of the African National Congress on a grassy slope below the beige stone edifice of the Union Buildings, seat of President Frederik W. de Klerk's government.

A few days after President Daniel Arap Moi announced the re-establishment of multi-party democracy in this country, thousands of Kenyans gathered for a demonstration downtown. Chanting slogans in support of a key opposition organization, they massed in front of a landmark of the movement: the American Embassy. Then they began an impromptu serenade, as it were, of Ambassador Smith Hempstone Jr. "Hempstone juu, Hempstone juu, " the demonstrators chanted in Swahili: "Up with Hempstone!"

As difficult as the recruiting process can be for college coaches, there are rare occasions when all it takes to find a high-caliber athlete is a Sunday walk in the park. Marwan Ass'ad, Cal State Northridge's soccer coach, found Matador players Belete Bekele and Teferi Michael precisely that way. Ass'ad received a phone call from Michael--who had heard of the Matador coach through the soccer grapevine--last spring inviting him to watch a pickup game at a park.

BENIN: Riots inspired by economic collapse forced dictator Mathieu Kerekou to call elections. He was defeated in the March, 1991, ballot. CAPE VERDE: Free legislative and presidential elections earlier this year installed a new government and ended 15 years of one-party rule in this former Portuguese island colony. MAURITIUS: Multi-party democracy since independence from Britain in 1968.

At a meeting of African politicians here recently, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere broke a taboo that had managed to exist for 30 years: He openly criticized a fellow African leader. The statesman so respected that even other African presidents commonly address him as mwalimu-- Swahili for "teacher"-- was speaking in front of an audience that included six other current or former African heads of state among hundreds of regional luminaries.

When I arrived in Johannesburg on July 3, members of the ruling National Party were bursting with confidence. Rumors that Western countries were about to end their isolation of South Africa had created a general feeling of triumph among whites. One Afrikaner academic even boasted that the government "was never close to defeat."

The haul of weapons this country's new rulers collected from its former government officials last month was impressive in its diversity. The guns lay in a pile at the collecting station, where a youthful rebel soldier, now part of a regular army, issued receipts: Soviet-made carbines and AK-47 automatic rifles predominated, but there were also Belgian rifles, Israeli Uzis and even a lonely American Winchester.

It was a simple gesture of humility on the part of a monarch who claims direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed and who is heralded in Moroccan newspapers as "His Majesty Hassan II, Commander of the Faithful, The Savior and The Unifier."

PERSIAN GULF CRISIS Oil and Threats: It was a crisis that caught the world by surprise. Still, looking back, there were disturbing signals early on. In the spring, suspicious equipment bound for Iraq started turning up at world ports. In Britain, authorities seized U.S.-built capacitors--devices for triggering nuclear weapons--after a lengthy investigation. Then, there was the bizarre "super-gun" affair.