Mandela shocked by fatal shooting outside his house

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Mandela shocked by fatal shooting outside his house

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

South African former president Nelson Mandela was "completely shocked" to learn about the shootout outside his Cape Town residence on Tuesday that claimed the life of an attacker, his spokeswoman Zelda le Grange said.

"An incident of this nature is always disturbing as it involvesthe possibility of loss of life," she said.

National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Selby Bokaba said a man was shot dead during an exchange of gunfire outside Mandela's residence, the South African Press Association reported.

Mandela was not home at the time.

Bokaba said three men driving a red Fiat Uno appeared at the former president's house after 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), asking if it was the residence of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"The three men walked to the gate and spoke to an official who told them it was not Tutu's house, but they insisted it was. The men said they needed to speak to Tutu or Madiba, claiming they hadinformation about people planning to disrupt the upcoming elections."

The official radioed for his superiors. The men walked back to their vehicle.

When the official and his superiors returned, the man standing at the gate ran toward the car and returned with an R5 rifle.

"He tried to cock the rifle and aimed it at the officials standing at gate, opening fire at them. The officials returned fire and the man was shot dead."

The officials chased the red Uno and apprehended the other two men. They were in police custody and being questioned.

The dead man's identity could not be revealed until his next ofkin had been informed.

No one else was injured during the incident. The motive for theincident was unknown.

Bokaba said there had been no threat against the former president.

He was noncommittal on whether police were going to beef up security around Mandela's house.

Source: Xinhua

Questions?Comments? Click here

Mandela Criticizes Arrogance of United States

Mandela Shows Support for Government in AIDS Drug Research

Mandela Calls for More Action on HIV

Indian navy to have two aircraft carriers by 2011 ( 4 Messages)

What's the meaning of Bush & Blair nominated as candidates for Nobel Peace Prize? ( 31 Messages)

Study: Americans eating themselves to death ( 7 Messages)

Japanese PM's remark on shrine visit leads to long-term cold relations with China: Kyodo ( 10 Messages)

French Presidents' China complex ( 4 Messages)