Blair arrives in South Africa on farewell trip

London, May 31: British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in South Africa today on the final leg of a trip to the continent where he is due to bid farewell to Nelson Mandela.

Blair arrived in Johannesburg on a trip where he is also expected to ask South Africa to step up pressure on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, whose country is sliding towards economic collapse.

South Africa is Blair's third stop on a trip aimed at building momentum for a rich nation summit that will focus on Africa and also to push for a world trade deal.

Blair, who already visited Libya and Sierra Leone, is making one of his last overseas trips before he resigns on June 27 and hands over power to finance minister Gordon Brown.

Blair is due to deliver a major policy speech on Africa and bid goodbye to Mandela today, and hold talks with President Thabo Mbeki tomorrow.

The visit takes place on the eve of the Group of Eight Summit scheduled for Germany during which Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to press rich nations to fulfil aid pledges to Africa under a 2005 Blair initiative.

In Sierra Leone yesterday, Blair called on Western countries to finance, train and equip African peacekeeping troops so they could intervene to end conflicts on the continent like the one in Sudan's Darfur.

Reuters>