Nelson Mandela Celebrates 90th Birthday With Private Party

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, is celebrating his 90th birthday today with a private party in his home village.

Mandela is spending the day in Qunu, in south-eastern South Africa, with his family and 500 guests, while celebrations take place around the world.

In London, admirers will gather next to Mandela's statue in Parliament Square to hold up colored birthday cards to create a giant South African flag. Other tributes in the UK include the flying of the flag outside Edinburgh, Bristol and Plymouth council buildings; giant birthday cards available for the public to sign in Nottingham and Manchester; and parties featuring South African cuisine and dancing in Cambridge, Leicester, Leeds, Reading and Glasgow.

A set of commemorative memorabilia has been launched to tie in with the celebrations, including a series of stamps, a five-rand coin, bangles engraved with 46664 – the name of Mandela's HIV/Aids charity – and a collection of eight comic books depicting his life.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation announced the launch of a 240-page book on the contribution to history of the man who led the drive to end South Africa's apartheid era.

Tens of thousands of politicians, musicians, sporting heroes and ordinary admirers of Mandela - referred to affectionately in South Africa by his clan name Madiba - have posted birthday wishes on the happybirthdaymandela.com website.

"Nelson Mandela is a leader no prison cell, no intimidation, no threat could silence," wrote the prime minister, Gordon Brown.

A message from the former US president Bill Clinton, his wife, Hillary, and their daughter, Chelsea, read: "No celebration or card can be big enough to encompass all the lives you have touched. Your sacrifices, your accomplishments, and your many gifts to our world have affected those no longer with us, as well as those not yet born."

The Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar declared: "We love you in Spain Mr Mandela."

The website, which aims to raise money for Mandela's many charities, was set up ahead of the charity rock concert held in Hyde Park in London last month, which kicked off the birthday celebrations.