/ 7 April 1999

BASSON SUSPENDED

DR WOUTER Basson, head of SA’s chemical and biological warfare programme, will be suspended from his position at the Number One Military Hospital in Pretoria, reprts the Sowetan. Following Basson’s indictment in Pretoria High Court, SANDF Chief of Staff Siphiwe Nyanda has ordered the suspension. Basson is expected to formally receive notification in the next few days, and the order will be in effect until the outcome of the trial. Basson is a cardiologist who has continued to practice in Military Hospital Number One while controversy over his involvement with the former regime’s covert warfare programme has raged.