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7 World Leaders Who Did Not Attend Mandela’s Memorial

Posted byBy Tracy | Published on: | Updated on December 17, 2013 CommentsComments (23)

leader mansour

President Adly Mansour (Egypt)

Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour also chose to play it safe, sending Mohammed Faiq, head of the National Council of Human Rights, to represent the country.

Faiq, who served as a state commissioner for African affairs during Gamal Abdel Nasser’s presidency, was one of the main Egyptian officials in contact with African liberation movements from 1953 to 1970. Faiq offered support from Egypt to leaders of independence and resistance movements in Africa during his years in office.

This is a stark contrast to Mansour, who many – including South Africa – believe came into power after a coup d’etat against former democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi.

According to reports, Mansour did not attend to avoid embarrassment.

Jiri Rusnok attends a news conference after being appointed by Czech President Milos Zeman as new prime minister at Prague Castle

Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok (Czech)

Czech Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok was caught admitting on public Czech TV that he was “dreading” attending Nelson Mandela’s funeral on 15 December.

According to the Telegraph.co.uk, while addressing a companion by the Czech equivalent of “dude,” Rusnok stated: “I’m dreading that I will have to go.”

Rusnok made the comment after being told that President Milos Zeman would not be able to attend because of a knee injury.

The Czech prime minister apparently had other plans, which included lunch and dinner arrangements, that would be interrupted.

He has since apologized for the remark stating it was “not correct to use such terms in connection with the death of Nelson Mandela.”

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