World IN BRIEF : SOUTH AFRICA : Ministry to Probe Unrest Allegations

Law and Order Minister Hernus Kriel ordered an investigation into a judge’s charges that policemen were involved in township political unrest. The order came as eight more blacks were killed, pushing the death toll in township fighting to more than 54 in six days. About 5,000 people have died over the past two years in fighting mainly between Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress and the rival Inkatha Freedom Party. Many politicians have accused security forces of stirring up black conflict to prop up white rule. Some fear the violence could derail multi-party talks under way for a transition to non-racial democracy. Last week Natal Province Supreme Court Judge J.M. Didcott charged that “the South African police commit well-planned murders and crime.”