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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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111389
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11138900.035
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1990-09-19
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WORLD, Page 57World NotesNAMIBIADisinformation Or Hoax?
Elections for an independent Namibia were less than a week away
when South Africa, which has controlled the country for 74 years,
called foul. Pretoria dramatically claimed that hundreds of Marxist
SWAPO guerrillas were infiltrating illegally into the country,
posing a serious threat to a free and fair vote. Claiming to have
"monitored" internal messages from a United Nations group
supervising the election, South Africa suggested that the unit was
reluctant to act against SWAPO. Vowing to "take whatever steps
would be required," South Africa put its own troops on alert.
U.N. officials denounced the supposed intercepts as fakes, and
peacekeepers in Namibia reported that the country was
"exceptionally calm." South Africa's actions appeared to be a last
pre-election blast against SWAPO, which is favored to win and
install a leftist government on South Africa's border. Pretoria
retreated by week's end, saying it might have fallen for a hoax.