Clinton Urges World to Do More for Africa

The best birthday gift for former South African President Nelson Mandela, who turned 85 on Friday, would be for the world to do more for Africa, former President Bill Clinton said Saturday in Johannesburg. Presenting the inaugural Nelson Mandela Lecture to an auditorium packed with local and foreign dignitaries, Clinton praised Mandela as a "gift to humanity." Later, Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were among some 1,600 guests who attended a banquet to honor Mandela, who is revered as a hero who preached racial reconciliation to his apartheid-scarred nation despite the 27 years he spent imprisoned by the white, racist regime. Clinton spent considerable time during the lecture outlining what he felt were the continent's priorities -- the menace of AIDS, the need for education, and the success of democracies.

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