Nelson Mandela dead at 95: Anti-apartheid hero and former South African president dies in Johannesburg


The lion of South Africa sleeps forever tonight.

[SIZE=3]Nelson Mandela, who led the fight against apartheid and then pushed for reconciliation as his country’s first black president, died after a prolonged illness Thursday. He was 95.[/SIZE]

   
[SIZE=3]“He passed on peacefully in the comfort of his family,” South African President Jacob Zuma said in an address to the world just before midnight Thursday in the African nation. “We’ve lost our greatest son.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] As word of the death of the man South Africans called Madiba spread across the heartbroken country, hundreds of weeping mourners converged on Mandela’s home in Johannesburg, chanting, “Viva Mandela, viva!”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Fittingly, blacks and whites mourned Mandela together.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]“If it wasn’t for Mandela, I wouldn’t be chilling with my black friends,” said 19-year-old Dominic Sadie, who is white and was part of the giant crowd of people holding candles and paying their respects. “I love him.”[/SIZE]

   

[SIZE=3]Mr Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Announcing the news on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela was at peace.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Scenes from around the globe in the hours after Nelson Mandela's death, as world leaders, South Africans, and our own journalists react.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]"Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela - who is known affectionately by his clan name, Madiba - had died shortly before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). He said he would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Crowds have gathered outside the house where Mr Mandela died, some flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Mr Mandela once led. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Social networking sites are abuzz with messages of condolences and messages of gratitude to the late statesman. He had been in and out of hospital in recent years and had become increasingly frail but many South Africans had continued to express their unreadiness to lose him. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]As he did in life, his passing has brought unity amongst South Africans as black and white speak of their love for him. Many here will be drawing on that same spirit for strength, that "Madiba magic" over the next few days and weeks as the nation left with the great burden of honouring Mr Mandela's legacy, mourns his passing but also celebrates his life. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]"Many around the world were greatly influenced by his selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom. He touched our lives in deeply personal ways."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]US President Barack Obama said Mr Mandela achieved more than could be expected of any man.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]"He no longer belongs to us - he belongs to the ages," he said, adding that Mr Mandela "took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice".[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Mr Obama, the first black president of the United States, said he was one of the millions who drew inspiration from Mr Mandela's life. He has ordered that the White House flag be flown at half-mast.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]FW de Klerk, who as South Africa's last white president ordered Mr Mandela's release, called him a "unifier" and said he had "a remarkable lack of bitterness". [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]The group's chair, Kofi Annan, said the world had lost "a clear moral compass". [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]"While I mourn the loss of one of Africa's most distinguished leaders, Madiba's legacy beckons us to follow his example to strive for human rights, reconciliation and justice for all."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]UK Prime Minister David Cameron said "a great light has gone out in the world".[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Earlier this year, Mr Mandela spent nearly three months in hospital with a recurring lung infection. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]He was moved to his home in the Houghton suburb of Johannesburg in September, where he continued to receive intensive care. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] Robben Island [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=3]Many of those gathered outside the former leader's home were reduced to tears at the news [/SIZE]




[SIZE=3]In London mourners placed flowers outside the African High Commission - among them the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lungi Morrison [/SIZE]


[SIZE=3] The UN Security Council in New York stood for a minute of silence [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid. Initially he campaigned peacefully but in the 1960s the ANC began to advocate violence, and Mr Mandela was made the commander of its armed wing. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]He was arrested for sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, serving most of his sentence on Robben Island.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]It was forbidden to quote him or publish his photo, but he and other ANC leaders were able to smuggle out messages of guidance to the anti-apartheid movement. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]He was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation - a process completed by the first multi-racial elections in 1994. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Mr Mandela, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 jointly with Mr de Klerk, was elected South Africa's first black president. He served a single term, stepping down in 1999. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]After leaving office, he became South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]A look back at the life of Nelson Mandela[/SIZE]