Bush Wants to Reward De Klerk Reforms

President Bush said Wednesday that while U.S. law does not permit him to lift economic sanctions imposed on South Africa by the United States, he would like to find some way to encourage South African President Frederik W. de Klerk’s “new approach” in that racially divided nation.

On the day that Nelson Mandela, the South African black leader, arrived in New York, Bush also said he would not apologize for the alleged involvement by the Central Intelligence Agency in the process that led to Mandela’s arrest in 1962.

Mandela was freed from South African prisons last February, after 27 years in custody.

Without confirming the allegation about the CIA, carried in news reports last weekend, Bush said, “I will take my leadership on that question from Mr. Mandela, who put it very well when he said let bygones by bygones.”

Bush, who headed the CIA in 1976-77, spoke at a news conference after touring the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.

The President, who is scheduled to welcome Mandela to the White House on Monday, praised De Klerk, whose decision led to Mandela’s freedom and the lifting of a state of emergency in most of the troubled nation.

Bush, who originally opposed the sanctions, which limit U.S.-South African economic activity, said, “if you can credit sanctions with the evolution towards democracy in South Africa, I’d have to say, well, it seems to be--there are some good things to it.”

“It’s delicate because I want to find a way to show our appreciation to De Klerk and yet I don’t want to pull the rug out from under Mr. Mandela,” the President said.

“I salute Mr. De Klerk for what he’s done. He’s come a long, long way. And I salute Mr. Mandela for his approach to De Klerk. I think that demonstrates a willingness to talk that few of us might have predicted a couple years ago,” Bush said, referring to the halting dialogue in which the two men--one representing the white minority, the other the black majority--have engaged.

He credited De Klerk with a “new approach that is having South Africa evolve to a much more open society and, hopefully, one day, to one which is colorblind in terms of participation in the political process.”

Under the nation’s apartheid laws, people are officially classified by race, public schools are segregated, most land is reserved for whites, and blacks lack a voice in national affairs.