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UN head to attend memorial service for Mandela in South Africa

Mandela will be buried in his native town of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province on December 15

© AP/Ben Curtis

THE UNITED NATIONS, December 08, 7:31 /ITAR-TASS/. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will round off a visit to France on Sunday and will leave for the Republic of South Africa to attend a memorial service for late former South African President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, December 10, the U.N. stated on Saturday.

The memorial service for the South African leader, who died on December 6, will be held at a football stadium in the south-western neighbourhood of Johannesburg on Tuesday. Mandela will be buried in his native town of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province on December 15.

The former South African president became the first man in the history, in honour of whom the U.N. General Assembly instituted the special date - International Day of Nelson Mandela that is marked on July 18 since 2009.

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