Nelson Mandela responding to treatment

JOHANNESBURG -- Former President Nelson Mandela began responding better to treatment yesterday morning for a recurring lung infection following "a difficult last few days," South Africa's president said.

President Jacob Zuma told parliament that he is happy with the progress that Mandela, 94, is making following his hospitalization on Saturday.

Mandela spent a fifth straight day yesterday in a Pretoria hospital, where he was visited by one of his daughters and two granddaughters.

Zuma noted that yesterday marked the 49th anniversary of the sentencing of Mandela to life in prison in 1964. He said "our thoughts" are with Mandela and his family "on this crucial historical anniversary."

Mandela, the leader of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, spent 27 years in prison during white racist rule. He was freed in 1990, and then embarked on peacemaking efforts during the tense transition that saw the demise of the apartheid system and his own election as South Africa's first black president in 1994.

His admission to a hospital in Pretoria, the capital, is Mandela's fourth time being admitted to a hospital for treatment since December.-- AP