/ 13 July 1999

MANDELA NOT ATTENDING OAU SUMMIT

RETIRED president Nelson Mandela will not attend the Organization of African Unity summit that opened in Algiers on Monday because he is tired, conference organizers said. Mandela, who was to have been guest of honor at the summit, “is tired. He has the right to a little rest. We understand his absence,” a spokesperson for the Algerian delegation said. Forty-two African heads of state and three heads of government are attending the 53-member pan-African organization’s 35th summit. President Thabo Mbeki heads the South African government delegation for the summit meeting. He is accompanied by his wife Zanele, Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma, and Reverend Frank Chikane, the Director-General in the Office of the President.