Apartheid official gets amnesty

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa An apartheid-era Cabinet minister whoconfessed to sanctioning the 1987 bombing of a trade union buildingwas granted amnesty Tuesday for his crime.

It was the second time the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,now nearing the end of its life span, has pardoned Adriaan Vlok, theformer law and order minister, who also confessed to approving the1988 bombing of the headquarters of the South African Council ofChurches.

The commission, appointed to probe apartheid-era human rightsabuses between 1960 and 1994, has considered more than 6,000 amnestyapplications this year, and has about 300 cases left to go, which ithopes to complete by next June.