Last night at a state dinner in London, Nelson Mandela broke his silence and briefly criticized the leadership in Zimbabwe.

From Reuters:

Nelson Mandela uttered just four words criticising Zimbabwe’s leadership, but they were enough to resonate around the world….

In a speech at a dinner late on Wednesday, Mandela highlighted several global crises including poverty, the Middle East, Iraq and Darfur before referring to a “tragic failure of leadership” in Zimbabwe.

While brief, the phrase hit the headlines, with reports saying Mandela had “broken his silence”. He officially retired from politics nine years ago.

You can watch the speech here:

(Mandela is in London to celebrate his 90th birthday and to attend a celebrity-filled concert tomorrow designed to raise awareness and funds for his AIDS/HIV charity. The charity is called “46664″ – which was his prison number when he spent decades behind bars for opposing apartheid in South Africa.)