DUSHANBE, December 6, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has offered his condolences to South Africa President Jacob Zuma on the death of Nelson Mandela, the country’s former president.
In his message, President Emomali Rahmon, in particular, noted that the name of Nelson Mandela was the banner of freedom in the whole world.
Nelson Mandela, the former president and political prisoner, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 95.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary who was imprisoned and then became a politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
Nelson Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Soviet Order of Lenin and the Bharat Ratna.
