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Anti-Apartheid Hero Desmond Tutu to Retire

   VOA News 22 July 2010
   Nobel  Peace Prize laureate and and former Anglican archbishop Desmond
   Tutu  talks  during  a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, 22
   Jul 2010

Photo: AP

   Nobel  Peace Prize laureate and and former Anglican archbishop Desmond
   Tutu  talks  during  a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, 22
   Jul  2010.  Tutu  announced  he is retiring from public life after his
   birthday on Oct. 7 when he turns 79..

   Desmond  Tutu,  a hero of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, says
   he  will step back from public life later this year.  The Nobel Peace
   Prize  laureate and former Anglican archbishop announced Thursday that
   his retirement will begin October 7 on his 79th birthday.
   He  said  the  time  has come to "slow down" so he can spend more time
   with his family instead of at airports and conferences.  Tutu said he
   will  continue  his  work  with  a  council of statesmen known as "The
   Elders,"  but  that  he  will  resign  from a university post and stop
   giving interviews to the media.
   Tutu  laughed  as  he  told reporters, "Don't call me, I'll call you,"
   referencing  a similar comment made by his fellow anti-apartheid hero,
   Nelson Mandela, on retiring.
   Tutu,  an  Anglican  minister, became known around the world for using
   his  position  in  the  church  to  condemn  South Africa's repressive
   apartheid laws.  In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his
   work,  and  two  years later he became the first black African ever to
   serve as Archbishop of Cape Town.
   When   apartheid  was  finally  dismantled  and  Mr.  Mandela  elected
   president,  Tutu  was  appointed  head  of  the  country's  Truth  and
   Reconciliation   Commission,   to  examine  the  human  rights  abuses
   perpetrated   under  apartheid.   He  also  had  the  opportunity  to
   introduce  Mr.  Mandela  as  president for the first time, an honor he
   said was one of his life's greatest moments.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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