Botha pledges inquiry into Army takeover plan

South African Prime Minister Pieter Botha disassociated himself Monday from a leaked document revealing a secret Army plan to intervene in politics. In a statement read to Parliament in Cape Town on his behalf, Mr. Botha, who is also defense minister, said a formal inquiry would be held into the document's origin , compilation, and contents.

The prime minister ordered a copy of the document to be on his desk this morning after excerpts were published by the Johannesburg Sunday Times yesterday causing an immediate uproar.

The document, published at greater length today in the Sunday Times's sister Rand Daily Mail, instructed military departments to carry out a strategy "to nullify the opposition's attack on the prime minister during the budget debate."