(Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
Ex-CIA agent comes clean, admits role in Madiba’s arrest
A former CIA agent has come forward saying that he tipped off the South African police, which led to Nelson Mandela’s arrest and 27 year jail time.
(Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
Former CIA agent Donald Rickard has said that he played a ‘key role’ in helping to apprehend Nelson Mandela.
Rickard, who retired from the CIA in 1978, said the Agency helped track down Mandela because at the time he was considered “the world’s most dangerous communist.”
Madiba was arrested by the SA police when his cover was blown – he was acting as a chauffeur – and was charged with treason.
In an interview, Rickard, who died in March 30, said:”We were teetering on the brink here and it had to be stopped, which meant Mandela had to be stopped. And I put a stop to it.”
Back Wall Street Journal questions Rickard about his involvement with Mandela’s arrest, to which he replied: “It’s untrue. There’s no substance to it.”
Shortly before his death, however, he reportedly came clean.
Rickard has now changed his mind and decided to come clean about his involvement.
