Fernandez letter

Who was behind the crude attempt to smear President Nelson Mandela by linking him to an oil deal with Nigerian middle-man Chief Antonio Deinde Fernandez? Copies of letters referring to cheques totalling US$300,000 made out by Fernandez to Mandela personally were sent to the Daily Express, Daily Telegraph and other British newspapers. The smear plot fell flat when Mandela's lawyer, Ismail Ayob, showed he had written to Fernandez's London lawyers, Simons Muirhead and Burton, returning the cheques and seeking clarification of the letter.

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