Live 8 concerts extended to three more cities

DUBLIN - Organisers of the Live 8 charity concerts will extend the series of planned events to include gigs in Tokyo, Toronto and Johannesburg, Irish rocker Bob Geldof said yesterday.

"Mandela, if he's well enough, will bring it to the world," Geldof told journalists before receiving a honorary doctorate from University College Dublin, referring to friend and former South African president Nelson Mandela. Both men have campaigned for the alleviation of poverty in Africa.

Geldof said the new concerts would be announced officially today.

Twenty years after his original Live Aid shows, Geldof had originally coordinated five main concerts to be held on July 2 - four in Europe and one in Philadelphia.

His aim is to raise awareness about African hardship and pressure Group of Eight leaders meeting in Scotland on July 6-8 to help tackle the problem.

Asked about rumours Michael Jackson might be taking part in the concerts, Geldof said the organisers had not approached the singer nor had Jackson asked them.

Geldof said if he was asked: "I'd say 'Dude, there's plenty of time. I don't think you should really put yourself through something as strenuous as Live 8 at such a fragile stage in your life'."

- REUTERS