Only black US senator starts African tour at Robben Island
August 21, 2006 Edition 1
The only black member of the United States senate began a two-week tour of Africa with a visit to Nelson Mandela's former prison at Robben Island yesterday, paying tribute to the "incredible courage, resilience and hopefulness" of the anti-apartheid movement.
Senator Barack Obama is one of the Democratic party's rising stars and is often mentioned as a possible future president.
He said the two-hour visit to Robben Island made him realise that everyday worries in the US were "fairly trivial stuff compared to the very elemental, basic struggle" of Mandela and other former inmates.
"It humbles you," he said after standing in the tiny cell which was Mandela's home for 18 years.
Obama was guided around the island by Ahmed Kathrada, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with Mandela and Walter Sisulu in 1964.
Obama's trip will include a visit to his father's home in Kenya. He will also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad.
He said he hoped the tour would improve ties between the US and the continent, and give him a better perspective on problems like HIV/Aids.
Obama will visit Aids patients and meet activists in Khayelitsha today. - Sapa-AP
