President Barack Obama is expected to attend Nelson Mandela's funeral.
Multiple media reports say that Obama will travel to South Africa to bid adieu to the late anti-apartheid icon. Formal announcement will be made once the travel schedule is finalized. He is expected to attend the funeral on December 15, reports USA Today.
Nelson Mandela passed away on Dec. 5, at the age of 95.
Obama paid tribute to Mandela saying that he was inspired by the South African leader. Obama said in his tribute. "I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life," he continued. "And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set."
"The United States has lost a close friend, South Africa has lost an incomparable liberator, and the world has lost an inspiration for freedom, justice, and human dignity -- Nelson Mandela is no longer with us, he belongs to the ages," Obama said. As a national tribute, U.S. flag will flow at half-mast till Monday.
The South African government will observe ten days of mourning.
According to Huffington Post, Obama met Mandela just once in a Washington hotel room in 2005. At the time Obama was a U.S. senator. Although they did not get a chance to meet again personally, the two often had telephonic conversations. Mandela also called Obama to congratulate him after he was elected the U.S. President in 2008.
