S.Africa's De Klerk's condition worsens - media

JOHANNESBURG, June 9 (Reuters) Former South African President F.W. de Klerk's condition has worsened and he has had to undergo a second operation in a week for colon cancer, local media reported today.

Johannesburg-based The Star newspaper quoted his spokesman Dave Steward as saying that his condition was not critical.

But a spokeswoman for the hospital where he was being treated outside Cape Town was quoted as saying that his condition had worsened because of respiratory complications and that he was being ventilated.

The local News24 online service said he was in a serious but stable condition. The reports could not be verified immediately.

De Klerk, 70, underwent a course of chemotherapy treatment earlier this week following an operation on a cancerous colon tumour last Saturday.

The last president of white-ruled South Africa, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for his efforts at ending apartheid and for launching multi-racial democracy.

REUTERS CH DS1147