S Africa's De Klerk out of intensive care unit

CAPE TOWN, June 21 (Reuters) F W de Klerk, the last president of white-ruled South Africa, was out of intensive care and recovering today from complications that developed after a cancer operation earlier this month, a spokeswoman said.

De Klerk, 70, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for helping to end apartheid and establish a multi-racial democracy, was put on a ventilator in a Cape Town hospital two weeks ago after suffering respiratory problems.

He contracted a new lung infection last week and underwent a tracheotomy to help his breathing.

''Mr F W de Klerk has been transferred out of the intensive care unit to a private room at Panorama Medi-Clinic where he is currently receiving high-care treatment,'' said Melissa Rademan, spokeswoman for the Cape Town hospital.

''His doctors said that his condition is still progressing and that he is doing well,'' she added.

The former president, who entered the hospital to have a malignant tumor removed from his colon, is still breathing with help from a ventilator at night.

De Klerk, a former heavy smoker, ousted hardliner P W Botha in 1989 and stunned the world months later with a sweeping repudiation of the apartheid racial segregation policies of his National Party.

He lifted a 30-year-old ban on Mandela's African National Congress and freed Mandela from prison, paving the way for a peaceful transition to non-racial democracy.

De Klerk served as deputy president under Mandela after the ANC won the country's first all-race vote in 1994. He retired from active politics in 1997.

REUTERS SHR KP1728