Accessibility links

Breaking News

Obama to Visit Mandela's Former Island Prison


Nelson Mandela on Aug. 8, 2012, left, and President Barack Obama, May 2013 file photo.
Nelson Mandela on Aug. 8, 2012, left, and President Barack Obama, May 2013 file photo.
U.S. President Barack Obama visits Robben Island in South Africa Sunday, the prison where former president Nelson Mandela spent nearly 20 years for fighting to overturn the country's apartheid regime.

Obama has met with relatives of Mandela, who has been in a Pretoria hospital for three weeks, suffering from lung disease. President Obama has no plans to visit the anti-apartheid icon, but says his moral courage and South Africa's transformation to democracy has been an inspiration to him.

President Obama is in South Africa as part of a week-long visit to Africa to promote trade and economic development.

Along with his talks with President Jacob Zuma Saturday, Obama announced a new program to bring 500 young Africans to the United States each year for leadership training.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG