JOHANNESBURG, Dec 6: The world on Friday mourned South Africa’s beloved Nelson Mandela, the iconic anti-apartheid hero and endearing former statesman who was hailed universally as an “incredible gift” to humanity.

Mandela’s “rainbow nation” awoke to a future without its founding father and its first black president, after he died late on Thursday aged 95 at his Johannesburg home surrounded by friends and family.

South African President Jacob Zuma announced a 10-day mourning period that would include a huge Dec 10 memorial service attended by various heads of state. US President Barack Obama’s office confirmed he would be among them.

Three days of Mandela’s body lying in state in Pretoria will follow, and then on Dec 15 a state funeral will take place to bury his remains in his birth town of Qunu.

As his compatriots paid lively tributes to the revered former statesman with flowers, songs and dance, admirers from all walks of life around the world joined in an outpouring of emotion, lauding Mandela’s legacy and remembering key moments in the great man’s life.

South Africa’s archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, a fellow Nobel Prize winner, praised Mandela as an “incredible gift that God gave us”. In an address where he fought to hold back the tears, Tutu said his old friend was “a unifier from the moment he walked out of prison”.

Mandela spent 27 years in an apartheid prison before becoming president and unifying his country with a message of reconciliation after the end of white minority rule. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa’s last white president, F.W. de Klerk, in 1993.

Palestinians and Israelis, Beijing and the Dalai Lama, Washington and Tehran all paid heartfelt tribute to Mandela, describing him as one of the towering figures of the 20th century who inspired young and old with his fight for equality.

Obama, his own country’s first black president, led a global roll-call of commemorations.

“We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again,” the US leader said. “He achieved more than could be expected of any man.”

Flags flew at half-mast in numerous countries, including the United States, France and Britain, and at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Paying homage to the late leader, British Prime Minister David Cameron said: “A great light has gone out in the world.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “With arduous and extraordinary efforts, he led the people of South Africa to success in the struggle against apartheid, making a historic contribution to the birth and development of a new South Africa.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Mandela “a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration”.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower lit up in green, red, yellow and blue to symbolise the South African flag, while India declared five days of mourning for a man the premier labelled “a true Gandhian”.

And a Paris summit of some 40 African leaders was overshadowed by Mandela’s death. An old associate, African Union Commission president Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said Mandela “was a son who became larger than the continent”.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the best way to remember Mandela was to free the African continent of poverty, unrest and disease.

“We will do it in your name,” she said.

In Brazil, organisers of the 2014 football World Cup flashed Mandela’s image up on a giant screen and held a minute’s silence before the groups’ draw.

EXPECTED BUT SAD: While the ailing former statesman’s death had long been expected after a spate of hospitalisations, the announcement came as a burst of searing sadness nonetheless.

Mandela had waged a long battle against a recurring lung infection and had been receiving treatment at home since September following a lengthy hospital stay.

Mandela’s two youngest daughters were in London watching the premiere of his biopic Long Walk to Freedom, along with Britain’s Prince William, when they learned of his death.British actor Idris Elba, who portrayed Mandela in the film, said: “We have lost one of the greatest human beings to have walked this Earth.”

Mandela’s eldest grandson expressed gratitude for the international outpouring of support.“The messages we have received since last night have heartened and overwhelmed us,” said Mandla Mandela.

Outside his house in the upmarket Houghton suburb and at his former residence in the once blacks-only township of Soweto, scores of well-wishers danced and sang old songs of struggle to celebrate the man they lovingly call Madiba. His Dec 10 memorial service will take place in a 90,000-plus capacity Soweto stadium.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take inspiration from Mandela’s struggle in the Middle East peace talks.

Israel’s leaders paid tribute to Mandela, with President Shimon Peres — also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate — calling him “above all a builder of bridges of peace and dialogue who paid a heavy personal price for his struggle”.

Even Syria’s beleaguered president, Bashar al Assad, ventured a homage on his official Facebook page, calling Mandela “a torch for the resistance and liberation from racism, hatred, occupation and injustice” and “an inspiration for all the downtrodden people of the world”.

TERRORIST TURNED ICON: Once considered a terrorist by the US and Britain for his support of violence against the apartheid regime, at the time of his death Mandela was an almost unimpeachable moral icon.

His extraordinary life story, quirky sense of humour and lack of bitterness towards his former oppressors ensured global appeal for the charismatic leader.

Mandela spent 27 years behind bars before being freed in 1990 to lead the African National Congress (ANC) in negotiations with the white minority rulers, which culminated in the first multi-racial elections in 1994.

A victorious Mandela served a single term as president before taking up a new role as a roving elder statesman and leading AIDS campaigner. He retired from public life in 2004.

Born in 1918, Mandela started a career as a lawyer in Johannesburg in parallel with his political activism.

He became commander of the armed wing of the then-banned ANC and underwent military training in Algeria and Ethiopia in the early 1960s.

He was arrested and sentenced to life in jail for sabotage in 1964. At his trial, he delivered the speech that was to become the manifesto of the anti-apartheid movement.

“During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society,” he said from the dock. “It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” He served most of his sentence on Robben Island, where he was held in spartan conditions. When he was finally released on Feb 11, 1990, he walked out of prison with his fist raised alongside his then wife Winnie.

Ex-prisoner 46664 then took on the task of persuading de Klerk to call time on the era of racist white minority rule.

‘WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD’: After the ANC won the country’s first multi-racial elections, Mandela declared his intention to establish “a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world”.

Critics said his five-year presidency was marred by corruption and rising levels of crime. But his successors have never enjoyed the same levels of respect or affection.

Mandela divorced his second wife Winnie in 1996. He found new love in retirement with Graca Machel, the widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel, whom he married on his 80th birthday.

Myanmar’s own democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spoke of her “extreme grief” at the death of her fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, who “made us understand that we can change the world”.

The Dalai Lama said he would miss his “dear friend”, whom he hailed as “a man of courage, principle and unquestionable integrity”.

Mandela is survived by three daughters, 18 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. He had four step-children through his marriage to Machel.

His death has left his family divided over his wealth. Some of his children and grandchildren are locked in a legal feud with his close friends over alleged irregularities in his two companies.—AFP