Mandela in Britain to Attend Benefit, Won’t See Thatcher

South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson R. Mandela arrived Sunday in Britain for his first visit in 28 years, planning to attend a benefit rock concert today in his honor but shunning Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s invitation to meet.

The African National Congress deputy president said he is pleased to be back in the country and thanked British supporters at a news conference with his wife, Winnie, shortly after their arrival at Heathrow Airport.

“We have always looked forward to this occasion, an occasion when we can thank the British people for the support which they have given us in the course of our anti-apartheid struggle,” Mandela said.

Mandela is expected to meet with fellow anti-apartheid campaigners and exiles, but a meeting with Thatcher is not on his agenda.

Mandela made plain before arriving that he will not see Thatcher, who has said she wants to meet him. Since his Feb. 11 release after 27 years in prison, Mandela has denounced Thatcher’s easing of British sanctions against South Africa as “absolutely disastrous.”

While condemning the prime minister’s planned meeting next month with South African President Frederik W. de Klerk, Mandela also said he does not want to alienate Thatcher.

Mandela is not scheduled to meet with any British government officials during his visit.

Today, Mandela is scheduled to address an expected crowd of 70,000 people at Wembley Stadium for a rock concert called “Nelson Mandela--An International Tribute for a Free South Africa.”

Twenty top performers are scheduled to appear at today’s concert, including Grammy Award winner Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Miriam Makeba, Peter Gabriel, Anita Baker and Tracy Chapman.

Among those attending are U.S. Democratic politician Jesse Jackson and Neil Kinnock, leader of Britain’s opposition Labor Party.