Mandela celebrates 'quiet family' birthday

Qunu, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 18 Jul – (ANA) - Some 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa have sung a specially composed song as part of official celebrations for Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday today. The former South African president will spend the day quietly with his family in his village home of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, near where he was born. Mr Mandela met former US President Bill Clinton yesterday. He spent 27 years in jail for leading an armed anti-apartheid campaign. Mr Clinton, accompanied by his daughter Chelsea, opened a new library for the No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, ahead of his meeting with Mr Mandela. He told the children that Madiba - as Mr Mandela is affectionately called in South Africa - believed in the future and not the past. "When I think about Mandela I always think about someone committed to the future," Mr Clinton said. US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, have also paid tribute ahead of Mr Mandela's birthday. The US first couple hailed Mr Mandela's "extraordinary life and steadfast commitment to the principles of democracy and reconciliation". Mr Mandela stood down as South Africa's president in 1999 after serving one term, handing over to Thabo Mbeki. After leaving prison in 1990, he led the African National Congress party to a landslide victory in 1994 - the first time South Africa's black majority was allowed to vote. (ANA)

FA/ANA/18 July 2012-------