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LIVE UPD8: Geldof invited to address G8 Summit and hopes Mandela can come with him.
*Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof has been officially invited to address the G8 group of world leaders when they meet at the Gleneagles Hotel near Edinburgh, Scotland next week; and he’s hoping that former South African leader Nelson Mandela will be able to stand right beside him at the important gathering.
Geldof had organized this weekend’s Live 8 concerts around the world as a call for the G8 nations to increase aid to Africa.
"We will say to these eight men sitting at a table to just do this thing,” he said of his G8 invitation. "They have the largest ever democratic mandate to change things. It would be arrogant to ignore it."
Geldof will likely bring U2’s Bono along, and is hoping that Mandela will also make the trip. An appearance by Mandela on stage at the Johannesburg leg at Murrayfield wouldn’t hurt the cause either, said Geldof.
"We want him to be there because it is more politically symbolic than the London gig. That's where the political message comes home,” Geldof said of the 86-year-old icon. "The reality is that, frankly, I think he is too old and too frail but we are still trying to persuade him. I would love him to be there."
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