
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990                   TAG: 9006210322
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                  LENGTH: Short

WILDER TO MEET WITH MANDELA

Gov. Douglas Wilder said Wednesday he will meet with Nelson Mandela in Washington next week at the South African leader's request.

After speaking to the Virginia Association of Broadcasters, Wilder told reporters that details still have to be worked out, but he expects the meeting will take place Monday or Tuesday.

"He has requested that we meet," said Wilder, who is the nation's first elected black governor.

Mandela, deputy president of the African National Congress, was jailed for 27 years for seeking more rights for blacks in his racially segregated country. Mandela arrived Wednesday in New York City for the start of a 12-day, eight-city tour of the United States.

Wilder said he has no topics in mind to discuss with Mandela. The governor dismissed suggestions that the meeting would boost his status as a national political figure.

Wilder, who recently spoke in New Hampshire and Minnesota and will go to Iowa on Friday, said his travels are putting Virginia in the national spotlight.

"People are getting their fair share of the buck in having me represent the state," he said. "Virginia can't afford to be parochial or provincial."

by CNB