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		</div><p>A signed letter from Muhammad Ali to Nelson Mandela offering his condolences on the death of an anti-apartheid leader has sold at auction in England for £7,200 (€8,500).</p>
<p>The letter, dated April 13 1993, is typed and signed by the boxer on letter-headed Muhammad Ali in South Africa stationery.</p>
<p>It was typed by the personal assistant to the general manager of the Elangeni Hotel in Durban where Ali was staying at the time.</p>
<p>Ali requested the letter typed to express his condolences to Mr Mandela on the loss of Chris Hani, who was assassinated on April 10, 1993.</p>
<p>Auctioneers Henry Aldridge &#038; Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, said the letter was sold to a US collector today.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MuhammadAliLettertoNelsonMandela_large-1.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MuhammadAliLettertoNelsonMandela_large-1.jpg" alt="muhammadalilettertonelsonmandela_large" width="600" height="800" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-100962" /></a></p>
<p>The letter reads: <i>&#8220;Dear Mr Mandela</p>
<p>&#8220;Allow me to extend to you and the A.N.C. my deepest regrets upon hearing of the death of Chris Hani. My prayers go out to Mr Hani&#8217;s family and the people of South Africa during these difficult days.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am providing you the following information regarding my itinerary should you desire to contact me (prior to our scheduled meeting on 19 April 1993):-</p>
<p>&#8220;CAPE SUN &#8211; 13 TO 16 APRIL &#8211; TEL: 021 238844 FAX: 021 238875</p>
<p>&#8220;JOHANNESBURG GARDEN COURT &#8211; 16 TO 22 APRIL &#8211; TEL: 011 297011 FAX: 011 291515</p>
<p>&#8220;Inshallah, I pray that God keeps you safe&#8221;</i></p>
<p>A letter signed by the personal assistant who typed it includes: <i>&#8220;Due to my nervous excitement about typing a letter of such historical importance I misspelt the name Muhammad replacing the last &#8220;a&#8221; with an &#8220;e&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The letter was taken to Muhammad Ali and duly signed before someone noticed the error and returned it to me. I typed it again but kept the incorrect copy for posterity.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the letter was from one of the greatest sportsmen to one of the greatest men in history.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;It is a truly iconic cross-collectible and will appeal to collectors of Ali memorabilia as well as those who collect Nelson Mandela material, items relating to apartheid, political history and collectors of iconic memorabilia,&#8221;</i> Mr Aldridge added.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;Muhammed Ali was only in South Africa for a short period in April 1993, arriving shortly after the assassination of Chris Hani on April 10.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hani was the chief of staff of Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government and was murdered by a far-right extremist outside of his home in Boksburg.</p>
<p>&#8220;Against that backdrop Ali arrived in South Africa at a time when the country stood on the edge of a precipice with civil war a possibility.</p>
<p>&#8220;He attended Hani&#8217;s farewell at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on April 19th 1993, when he appeared to the crowd, they chanted &#8220;Ali! Ali!&#8221;.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Mr Aldridge said Mr Mandela kept a photograph of himself with Ali on his desk and his favourite book, in his later years, was an autographed copy of Ali&#8217;s biography.</p>
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