Statue stands for all who have resisted oppression

The 89-year-old freedom fighter and statesman was visibly moved as Prime Minister Gordon Brown led tributes at the unveiling of the 9ft bronze sculpture.

Frail but in good health, the former South African president thanked Britons in general and Londoners in particular and for their support in the struggle against apartheid during his long years in prison.

"It's an honour for us to be with you on the occasion of the unveiling of this statue," he said.

"We never dreamed we would all be here today. Though this statue is of one man, it should in actual fact symbolise all those who have resisted oppression, especially in my country."

He told how on his last visit to Parliament Square in 1962, with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo, "we half-joked that we hoped one day a statue of a black man would be erected here", alongside one of former South African premier General Smuts.

Among the several thousand at the event were many of the Cabinet, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat chief Sir Menzies Campbell.

Mr Brown called the monument a "beacon of hope" and hailed Mr Mandela as "the great liberator". He added: "Nelson Mandela is one of the most courageous and best-loved men of all time. You will be here with us always."

Mr Mandela - accompanied by his wife Graça Machel, made a dame last night for her humanitarian work - was escorted to the podium by Mr Brown after the statue was unveiled.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner wished the premier "wisdom and strength", and, in a surprise announcement, revealed he hoped to return to London next year to mark his 90th birthday.

He said he wanted to be at a Hyde Park concert highlighting his Aids awareness campaign. To shouts from the crowd of "Amandla!", the ANC's battlecry, Mr Mandela said: "The history of South Africa is rich with the struggle of heroes and heroines, some of them leaders, some of them followers, all of them deserve to be remembered."

Mayor Ken Livingstone, referring to the nearby statues of Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, told Mr Mandela: "There can be no more fitting place than this square, which you will share with the president who freed the slaves and the prime minister who led a nation standing a alone against the greatest evil of the 20th century." Among dignitaries present at the unveiling was film director Lord Attenborough, whose movie Cry Freedom highlighted the injustices of apartheid.

Originally, the bronze sculpture, by the late Ian Walters, was to have stood in Trafalgar Square, but planning permission was refused by Westminster council .The ceremony was briefly heckled by anti-war protesters when Mr Brown and the Mayor spoke. Demonstrator Brian Haw shouted: "Stop the war in Iraq!"