AIDS torch celebrates Mandela's 87th birthday

JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday (Reuters) South Africa celebrated Nelson Mandela's 87th birthday, lighting a special torch in his apartheid prison cell as part of a new nationwide drive to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.

The torch was lit just after midnight on Robben Island, the former apartheid prison off Cape Town where Mandela spent almost two decades for seeking to end white rule and bring democracy to the country. Organisers say the torch, brought back to Cape Town in a blaze of fireworks, will now be taken throughout South Africa as part of Mandela's AIDS awareness campaign. People are being encouraged to drop off birthday greetings at each of its stops around the country.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has nevertheless arranged a series of events to mark his 87th birthday, including a lecture by a fellow Nobel laureate, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, and a special rugby match next Saturday. The focus for this year's celebration has been Mandela's political and moral legacy, with special emphasis on his public support for the battle against HIV/AIDS, an epidemic which now infects more than 5 million of South Africa's 47 million people.

The "46664" AIDS campaign, named after Mandela's one-time prison number, has featured a number of rock concerts including one Mandela attended earlier this year north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.