Thanks pienne for the reply.
The following is what Clive has written:
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Later, you meet another person and you say 'Clive told me he
had had an interview'. Here, it's clear to the speaker that the interview was before Clive told you about it.
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This event took place in the past.
1. I met him a couple of days ago.
2. He visited South Africa nearly 3 weeks ago.
So if you compare with what Clive has written, the second sentence
sounds fine. Today I am talkintg about two past events; so it is clear
to everybody about the sequence of the events.