Frederik W De Klerk

The government published a draft law Tuesday to end race classification, the basis of South Africa's 43-year-old apartheid system dividing ruling whites from the voteless black majority. The six-line proposal, certain to be accepted by Parliament, which is dominated by the National Party, implements the last of several sweeping reforms announced Feb. 1 by President Frederik W. de Klerk.

Setting aside their differences for a day, a beaming Nelson Mandela and Frederik W. de Klerk accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday and promised to keep working toward a democratic South Africa. The black African National Congress leader and the white president who freed him from prison received long, enthusiastic applause from an audience of 2,000 people when they were presented with their gold medals and diplomas. "We are political opponents," De Klerk said in his Nobel lecture.

Black anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela has said his African National Congress is negotiating with right-wing white leaders to persuade them to support South African President Frederik W. de Klerk's racial reforms, Time magazine reported Sunday. In an interview in this week's edition, Time asked Mandela what contacts the ANC has had with the right wing. "We don't want to go into those details now because these are very delicate negotiations," it quoted him as replying.

President Frederik W. de Klerk has accepted an invitation to attend a meeting of African heads of state Saturday, apparently reaping a first reward from some of apartheid's staunchest foes for freeing Nelson R. Mandela. "It is confirmed that . . . De Klerk . . . will make a one-day visit to Zaire . . . to attend a meeting of a number of African heads of state," the president's spokesman said in a statement Monday.

President Frederik W. de Klerk on Friday agreed to meet with Anglican Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu and two other church anti-apartheid leaders next week for unprecedented talks about South Africa's racial conflict. De Klerk immediately agreed to a request by the church leaders for urgent talks "about the crisis in our land," the president's office said. It will be De Klerk's first direct meeting with top anti-apartheid leaders since he replaced Pieter W. Botha as president Aug. 15.

The South African government unveiled its proposal Monday for an initial transitional government that would keep power in the hands of President Frederik W. de Klerk. The plan differs substantially from an interim administration envisaged by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

A leading South African newspaper reported Sunday that President Frederik W. de Klerk plans to make a "statement of intent" this week to eliminate remaining apartheid laws. The Sunday Star of Johannesburg, citing "political insiders," said De Klerk is expected to outline his plans in a speech to Parliament. De Klerk has initiated a series of reforms of South Africa's system of racial segregation since assuming power in August.

South African President Frederik W. de Klerk, a day after winning support from President Bush for lifting international sanctions imposed to combat apartheid, urged other Western leaders Tuesday to re-evaluate their positions. The restrictions are undermining efforts at political reform, he said, by taking a "heavy toll" on his country's economy. "For the international community, it is no longer necessary to kick down the door," De Klerk said. "The door is open.

Frederik W. de Klerk, who is expected to be South Africa's next president, Wednesday bowed to anti-apartheid pressure and turned down an invitation by U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III to visit the United States. The announcement was made by Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha in Pretoria. De Klerk was in Mozambique on Wednesday for talks with the government there.

Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat, Nelson Mandela and Frederik W. de Klerk were picked as Time magazine's 1993 "Men of the Year" for "common genius" as peacemakers. The four were chosen because they "reasserted the principle that leaders matter: that an individual's vision, courageously and persuasively and intelligently pursued, can override the rather unimaginative human preference for war," the magazine said Saturday. Time displays the four on the cover of the Jan.