Mandela - 'Titan of 20th century'

epa03978378 (FILE) A file photograph dated 01 December 2007 shows Former South African President Nelson Mandela at the 46664 concert in Johannesburg, South Africa: photo - EPA/JON HRUSA

"This was one of the greatest men of the twentieth century. It is no exaggeration to say that he was a great hero," Tomasz Nalecz, adviser to President Bronislaw Komorowski has told Polish Radio.

"This was a great man for Africa and the world," Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said, adding that Mandela was a 20th century "titan".

South African President Jacob Zuma announced the news that Mandela had died after a long illness on Thursday night.

"Our people have lost a father. Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss," he said in a television address.

Mandela's wife Graca Machel, and some of his three children, 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren were with him in his final days, with other family and friends in attendance.

"Today he's gone home, and we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth," U.S. President Barack Obama said of Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after elections following the fall of Apartheid.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner that, "Nelson Mandela was a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration. Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us if we believe, dream and work together for justice and humanity."

After lying in state, Mandela's body will be flown to his home village of Qunu, in the rural Eastern Cape, where, following a traditional ceremony, he will be buried on a hillside which forms part of his estate. (pg)

source: IAR/Rueters