Mandela one of the greatest people in history, says Obama

JOHANNESBURG (AP):

United States President Barack Obama paid personal respects yesterday to relatives of ailing anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and encouraged leaders in Africa and around the world to follow the former South African president's example of country before self.

"We as leaders occupy these spaces temporarily and we don't get so deluded that we think the fate of our country doesn't depend on how long we stay in office," Obama told reporters shortly before a private, half-hour meeting with Mandela's family.

Obama spoke at a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma in the midst of a weeklong tour of the continent that also included stops in Senegal and Tanzania, two nations where there has been progress towards democratic governance.

Obama and Zuma appeared at the Union Buildings that house government offices and were the site of Mandela's 1994 inauguration as the country's first black president after 27 years behind bars for his activism.

The 94-year-old Mandela has been in a nearby hospital for three weeks after being admitted with a lung infection. Zuma told reporters that Mandela is in critical but stable condition.

The White House said that in accordance with the family's wishes, Obama was not planning to see the man he has called a personal hero and revered yesterday as "one of the greatest people in history".

But Obama did meet with two of Mandela's daughters and eight of his grandchildren at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, part of the former president's foundation.

Obama said he told the family he hopes Mandela draws comfort from the time he's spending with loved ones.

"I also reaffirmed the profound impact that his legacy has had in building a free South Africa, and in inspiring people around the world - including me," Obama said in a statement after the visit. "That's a legacy that we must all honour in our own lives."

Obama also spoke by telephone with Graca Machel, Mandela's wife, while she stayed at his bedside in the hospital. Machel said she drew strength from the call and that Obama added a characteristic "touch of personal warmth".

"I am humbled by their comfort and messages of strength and inspiration, which I have already conveyed" to Mandela, she said.

Zuma told Obama he and Mandela are "bound by history as the first black presidents of your respective countries".

"Thus, you both carry the dreams of millions of people in Africa and in the Diaspora who were previously oppressed," Zuma said at their news conference, reading from a prepared statement.