Mandela lashes out at Britain, U.S.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Nelson Mandela looked frail and joked about being an old man, but the former president remained combative Monday, lashing out at the United States and Britain over Iraq in a speech billed as his swan song before Parliament.

Although the aging icon of South African democracy is being gently shoved by friends and colleagues toward a more complete retirement, Mandela seemed determined not to go quietly.

"We watch as two of the leading democracies, two leading nations of the free world, get involved in a war that the United Nations did not sanction," Mandela told a special joint session of Parliament.

"We look on with horror as reports surface of terrible abuses against the dignity of human beings held captive by invading forces in their own country," Mandela said of the scandal surrounding the abuse of Iraqis at the hands of British and American troops.

Mandela's speech, on the 10th anniversary of his inauguration as the first black president of South Africa, was billed as probably his last to Parliament. Mandela turns 86 on July 18 and there has been speculation that his health is declining under his demanding schedule.

He has difficulty walking without a cane or support and on occasion has repeated anecdotes during speeches. As he left Parliament on Monday, Mandela clutched the arm of former president F.W. de Klerk, with whom he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing about the largely peaceful end to apartheid.

Enormous influence

Mandela retired from active politics in 1999 after one term, but he still enjoys enormous influence as the former anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison for his beliefs.

But while Mandela is lauded at home and abroad as a man of peace, he has been criticized by Peter Hitchens, a columnist for the Mail on Sunday newspaper in Britain, a publication known for its provocative views, as the humane face of an increasingly authoritarian government.

The African National Congress, the party once led by Mandela and now by Mbeki, won a more than two-thirds majority in Parliament and leadership of all nine provinces in elections last month.

Friends and colleagues say Mandela has an autocratic streak. As president, he responded harshly to criticism.

When black South African journalists mildly criticized his government, Mandela painted them as stooges of white newspaper owners. When weak opposition parties complained about the government, he dismissed them as white parties trying to cling to white privilege.

But in South Africa, to blacks and whites alike, Mandela remains a revered former leader and the symbol of South Africa's fledgling democracy.

During his speech Monday, Mandela referred to himself as "a retired old pensioner," and "this old man." But South Africans, in a sign of affection, still call him Madiba, which is his clan name.

"He is coping as well as any 86-year-old can be expected to cope with such a hectic schedule," said Jakes Gerwel, a friend and head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. "But we would like to see him slow down and spend more time with those close to him."

The foundation's Marietta Slabbert said Mandela has indicated that he wants to free up his busy timetable.

"It is nothing new that Madiba is trying to slow down," Slabbert said. "He wants to slow down but nothing formal has been decided yet."

In his speech Monday, Mandela recalled the hope and confidence he felt at the time of the elections in 1999.

"The national climate was one of magnanimity and a great generosity of spirit. As a people we were enormously proud of what we had achieved, negotiating among ourselves a peaceful resolution to what was one of the most intractable situations of conflict in the world," he said.

In 1964, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage against the apartheid state. He emerged 27 years later in February 1990 when then President de Klerk ordered his release signaling the beginning of a new era in the country's history.

"Today is the day of Mandela ... who towered like a giant in this transformation," de Klerk told Parliament on Monday.