Truth Panel Seeks Deadline Extension

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is seeking an extension to a deadline to allow more people to apply for amnesty for apartheid crimes. President Nelson Mandela opposed the move, saying it would signal leniency. Under the legislation that created the commission, people who confess to politically motivated crimes committed up to Dec. 6, 1993, are eligible for amnesty. Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who heads the commission, said the panel decided to seek a deadline extension to May 10, 1994--the date of Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa’s first black president.