US erases terror label from Madiba

WASHINGTON – As celebrities threw an early 90th birthday party for Nelson Mandela in London’s Hyde Park on Friday, US lawmakers erased references to the former South African leader as a terrorist from national databases.

Legislation proposing the move received final congressional approval late on Thursday when the Senate unanimously passed it on a voice vote. The House of Representatives approved it on May 8.It removes the ‘terrorist’ label and travel restrictions imposed on Mandela and other cadres from the African National Congress, which fought to end white minority rule in South Africa.The ANC was banned by South Africa’s apartheid government in 1960.The ban on the movement was lifted 30 years later.”Passage of the bill to remove from the US terrorist watch list Nelson Mandela and others who worked tirelessly to end the oppressive, inhumane system of apartheid in South Africa is a great victory for justice,” said Representative Donald Payne, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Africa in the House of Representatives.”I am gratified that we were able to show our respect and high esteem for a man who is loved and admired around the world,” said Payne.Mandela has become a worldwide symbol of freedom.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called the US travel restrictions on Mandela and the ANC “embarrassing” and urged an end to them.Stricter security measures passed by Congress after the September 11 2001 attacks kept the ANC’s terrorist label because it used armed force as part of its campaign against apartheid.Nampa-ReutersThe House of Representatives approved it on May 8.It removes the ‘terrorist’ label and travel restrictions imposed on Mandela and other cadres from the African National Congress, which fought to end white minority rule in South Africa.The ANC was banned by South Africa’s apartheid government in 1960.The ban on the movement was lifted 30 years later.”Passage of the bill to remove from the US terrorist watch list Nelson Mandela and others who worked tirelessly to end the oppressive, inhumane system of apartheid in South Africa is a great victory for justice,” said Representative Donald Payne, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Africa in the House of Representatives.”I am gratified that we were able to show our respect and high esteem for a man who is loved and admired around the world,” said Payne.Mandela has become a worldwide symbol of freedom.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called the US travel restrictions on Mandela and the ANC “embarrassing” and urged an end to them.Stricter security measures passed by Congress after the September 11 2001 attacks kept the ANC’s terrorist label because it used armed force as part of its campaign against apartheid.Nampa-Reuters