The United Nations is being sued, for the first time in its history, for alleged complicity in the crime of genocide. Lawyers are instituting a case on behalf of two Rwandan women whose families died during the 1994 genocide in which 800,000, mostly Tutsi people, were slaughtered by Hutus. The United Nations is being sued, for the first time in its history, for alleged complicity in the crime of genocide. "We are receptive to him because it augurs well for nation building.

I think that within the spirit of reconciliation, he can play a meaningful role," said a party spokesman, Smuts Ngonyama.However, the ANC has made clear that Mr Botha will not be exempt from normal membership procedures and will have to be content with being a rank-and-file member.Despite being known as a political opportunist, Mr Botha has been given the benefit of the doubt regarding the motives for his "defection" from the National Party, the architects of apartheid, to the liberation movement he once opposed.. He also urged other Afrikaners: "If there are things in the ANC that bother you, you must try to rectify them from within the ANC."The ANC, which celebrated its 88th anniversary on Saturday, responded favourably. Jakarta has been forced to promise more autonomy, including the implementation of Islamic law.. South Africa's long-serving apartheid minister Pik Botha says he wants to join the party of his old enemies - the ruling African National Congress - in what appears is a cry from the heart for Afrikaners to work with black people to build a new South Africa. South Africa's long-serving apartheid minister Pik Botha says he wants to join the party of his old enemies - the ruling African National Congress - in what appears is a cry from the heart for Afrikaners to work with black people to build a new South Africa. Mr Botha, 68, who constructed a considerable international profile for himself as foreign minister for 17 years, told local newspapers at the weekend that he was considering joining the ANC. But the provincial police chief said only that seven policemen were injured.President Abdurrahman Wahid has repeatedly rejected calls for independence for Aceh but the separatist pressure has grown since East Timor's independence referendum last August.

Yesterday, police were still denying that the Sulawesi clashes were triggered by religious tensions.The Christian Indonesian Communion of Churches said "dark forces" were stoking up tensions for their own political ends, hiding behind religion. Indonesia's military chief, Admiral Widodo Adisutjipto, flew to the region yesterday but ruled out declaring martial law.Meanwhile, in the province of Aceh in northern Sumatra, guerrillas engaged in a long-running battle for independence claimed they had killed nine policemen in revenge for looting carried out by the Indonesian security forces against locals. "This conflict is nothing but the worst and the lowest side of human nature," the organisation said in a statement issued in Jakarta. Like Maluku province, Sulawesi has a large Christian minority, and there are mounting fears that the conflict raging in Ambon could spread to other parts of the country. Last week, tens of thousands of Muslims marched in Jakarta, calling for a jihad, or holy war, to save Muslims in the Maluku province, as the Spice Islands are now known.In the southern part of the huge island of Sulawesi, between Borneo and the Philippines, four people were reported to have been killed and more than 100 houses burnt in battles between local people and recently arrived migrants from other islands.