ATLANTA - Former President Jimmy Carter said the people of South Africa and human rights advocates around the world have lost a great leader with the death of Nelson Mandela.
Carter worked closely with the former South African president through The Elders, a group of world leaders that was formed by Mandela in 2007.
Carter said in a statement that Mandela's ``passion for freedom and justice created new hope for generations of oppressed people worldwide, and because of him, South Africa is today one of the world's leading democracies.''
Mandela died Thursday at the age of 95.