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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — F.W. de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela and as South Africa’s last apartheid president oversaw the end of the country’s white minority rule, has died at the age of 85. De Klerk died after a battle against cancer at his home in the Fresnaye area of Cape Town, a spokesman for the F.W. de Klerk Foundation confirmed on Thursday. De Klerk was a controversial figure in South Africa where many blamed him for violence against Black South Africans and anti-apartheid activists during his time in power, while some whites saw his efforts...

F.W. de Klerk, who served as the last President of apartheid-era South Africa, said on Wednesday that it was unfair to say that Israel is an apartheid state. De Klerk, who is visiting Israel where he received an honorary doctorate from Haifa University, gave an interview to Channel 2 News, in which he was asked about comments recently attributed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, that Israel would become “an apartheid state” if talks failed. “There are many definitions of apartheid. I do not know what Mr. Kerry meant, but one should be careful about making comparisons,” said de...

Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk hold their hands high as they address a huge crowd of people in front of the Union Building after the first presidential inauguration in 1994 The Nobel Peace Prize winner said not all aspects of apartheid were "morally repugnant", and that there was "merit" in the notion of ethnic groups living apart but that in South Africa, the experiment had not worked. In a CNN interview, Mr de Klerk said he had made a "profound apology" about the injustices wrought by apartheid on many occasions. "What I haven't apologised for is the original concept...

A security guard has confessed to murdering the former wife of ex-South African president FW de Klerk in her Cape Town beachfront apartment. The man, who is not been named, was employed by Securicor Gray, the company used to look after the apartment complex where Marike de Klerk lived. He will be charged with murder. Mrs. de Klerk, 64, who was divorced from her husband in 1998 after 39 years of marriage, was found stabbed and strangled in her home where she lived alone. 'Wake-up call' Her former husband said after attending a memorial service: "It is my sincere hope ...

De Klerk condemns positive discrimination By Kim Willsher, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:25am GMT 11/03/2007 White South Africans have been made to feel like second class citizens in their own country by employment policies which discriminate in favour of blacks, according to the country's former president, FW de Klerk. FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela in 1994 Mr de Klerk, who as South Africa's last white leader between 1989 and 1994 was largely responsible for dismantling apartheid, said in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph: "The implementation of affirmative action has led to a substantial percentage of, not only...

White 'ingratitude' worries Tutu Archbishop Tutu and Mr de Klerk are both Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said South Africa's white community has not shown enough appreciation of the generosity shown to them by black South Africans. Ex-President FW de Klerk said in turn that black citizens should be grateful to whites for surrendering power. Archbishop Tutu headed the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which began work in April 1996. In an interview with BBC News, he said the commission failed to engage the white community sufficiently. He also expressed concern about social inequalities and levels of poverty...

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s last apartheid president, FW de Klerk, urged blacks on Sunday to recognise the sacrifices made by whites in embracing all-race democracy and the courage they showed in ceding power. De Klerk was responding to comments by anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu who said this week that 10 years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed, white South Africans did not fully appreciate the sacrifices made by black victims in forgiving past wrongs. Writing in a Sunday newspaper, De Klerk repeated his apology to the victims of apartheid and said white-rule was “morally indefensible”, but denied his government...

CAPE TOWN, May 8 — Former South African President F.W. de Klerk said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinians were not ready for an accord along the lines of the 1994 settlement that halted South Africa's plunge into a race war. De Klerk said his then whites-only National Party and Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) were committed to negotiations, determined to reach a settlement within a limited time and ready to make real sacrifices on matters of principle. ''These elements are not really present in Israel and Palestine at the moment,'' he said in a wide-ranging South African Broadcasting...