SA sacks agent in murder plot

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Defence Force (SADF) has dismissed one of two agents who plotted with Ulster loyalist paramilitaries in London to assassinate a South African defector. It said the agent, Leon Flores, had acted without authority, but did not admit that he planned to murder Dirk Coetzee, a former policeman who exposed official South African hit squads three years ago, writes Chris McGreal.

The SADF chief, General Andreas Liebenberg, said: 'He acted . . . in accordance with his own agenda.' The other agent, Captain Pamela du Randt, was cleared, without explanation.