FW de Klerk dies: South African leader who freed Nelson Mandela and ended white rule .- BBC News

FW de Klerk, the man who released Nelson Mandela from prison in South Africa and helped end white-minority rule, has died.

The 85-year-old had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

He came to power in 1989 under apartheid, a system of legalised racism, but later became a key figure in the transition to democracy.

He ordered Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, leading to a historic transition of power and elections in which the anti-apartheid leader became South Africa’s first black president.

De Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for helping to negotiate an end to apartheid. But his legacy divides opinion in South Africa.

Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Andrew Harding.

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