South African Archbishop and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu speaks during an interview in New Delhi, Feb. 8, 2012.
Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu will attend South African president Nelson Mandela’s funeral Sunday, after briefly canceling plans because he said he was left off the guest list by government officials.
Tutu’s official foundation and Clayson Monyela, South Africa’s head of Public Diplomacy, both tweeted the confirmation.
Earlier Saturday, Tutu canceled plans to attend Mandel’s funeral in a statement claiming he received no indication that he was invited.
“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 the statement Saturday, the Associated Press reports. “Had I or my office been informed that I would be welcome there is no way on earth that I would have missed it.”
The 82-year-old Nobel laureate is one of South African President Jacob Zuma’s biggest critics, and a government spokesman earlier denied the allegation that Tutu had been left out and asserted he was on the guest list, though the spokesman said was unclear if Tutu was expected to provide a eulogy.
[AP]