Brits honor Mandela with statue

LONDON – Nelson Mandela paid tribute to the anti-apartheid struggle Wednesday as Britain unveiled a towering statue in his honor outside the Houses of Parliament, saying it symbolized the sacrifices made by all who fight oppression.

Speaking to thousands of supporters, the 89-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner recalled the many brave men and women who joined the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa.

“The history of the struggle in South Africa is rich with the stories of heroes and heroines, some of them leaders, some of them followers. All of them deserve to be remembered,” Mandela said after Prime Minister Gordon Brown uncovered the statue.

Mandela came to personify the black majority’s struggle to end apartheid, spending 27 years in jail before being released in 1990. He would eventually negotiate the transition to democratic rule, serving as South Africa’s president until he left office in 1999.