JOHANNESBURG : Militant Blacks Meet

The Pan-Africanist Congress, a militant breakaway from the African National Congress, is to decide whether to accept a South African government invitation to participate in constitutional negotiations at a precedent-setting session starting Friday.

Meeting inside the country for the first time in three decades, the PAC, which was legalized early this year, says its membership has been growing steadily in recent months with converts among young blacks unhappy with the ANC’s decision to open talks with the government. The PAC has waged its own small-scale guerrilla war against Pretoria, and has so far refused talks until government abolishes apartheid and agrees to hand over power to a black majority. But some key PAC figures, including leaders still in exile, think it may be time to reconsider lest they be left out of the important constitution drafting process.