Geldof invites Pope, Mandela and Dalai Lama to Live 8
Bob Geldof has asked the world's most prominent figures, including Pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela to take part in the anti-poverty rally and Live 8 charity concert this summer to mark the first day of the G8 Summit of world leaders.
The campaigning rocker has urged the moral and religious leaders to address crowds at the events in Edinburgh, Scotland in person or via satellite link-up, to prompt leaders of the world's eight largest industrial countries to help impoverished African nations.
The former Boomtown Rat hopes they will join music stars including U2, Paul McCartney and Oasis at the Make Poverty History march, to lobby leaders like US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair into cancelling Third World debt, doubling the aid budget and
rewriting global trade laws so developing countries can protect their economies.
Geldof and his Band Aid 20 co-organiser Midge Ure will announce details of the fund-raiding event tomorrow at a London press conference.
