Tutu Not Going to Mandela Funeral

Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela’s longtime anti-apartheid ally, said on Saturday that he would not attend Mandela’s funeral because he had not been accredited as a clergyman for the funeral. However, a spokesman for South African president Jacob Zuma insists that Tutu is on the guest list. “Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured, it would have been disrespectful to Tata (Mandela) to gatecrash what was billed as a private family funeral,” Tutu said in a statement. “Had I or my office been informed that I would be welcome there is no way on earth that I would have missed it.” Tutu, a now-retired archbishop of Cape Town, indicated that he felt snubbed by South Africa's current government, with which he has clashed in the past.