Obama meets Mandela family

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama met privately Saturday with the family of Nelson Mandela.

The meeting was held in Johannesburg at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, which is part of the former South African president's foundation.

It lasted for about a half hour, enough time for a small crowd to gather outside in time for Obama's departure.

The White House didn't say which Mandela family members the Obamas met with.

The president and first lady will not meet with the ailing 94-year-old Mandela, who is hospitalized with a lung infection. The White House says that decision was made in accordance with the wishes of Mandela's family.

The couple were not scheduled to visit Mandela in hospital, where he was admitted for a lung infection on June 8, the White House said.

Obama hailed the South African leader, who turns 95 next month, as "one of the greatest people in history," at a joint press conference with President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

"What Nelson Mandela stood for is that the well-being of a country is more important that the interest of any one person," he said.

"Madiba's moral courage, and this country's historic transition to freedom and a democratic nation, are a personal inspiration to me and an inspiration to the world."

Zuma said people around the world were praying for Mandela. "He remains critical but stable, nothing has changed so far. That's where the situation is. We are hoping it is going to improve," he said.

"We hope very soon he will be out of hospital."

Obama's visit to the country as president has been overshadowed by concerns for Mandela's health.

"The last thing I want to do is to be in any way obtrusive at a time when the family is concerned about Nelson Mandela's condition," Obama said while en route to South Africa.

Mandela's extended family and a stream of officials and well-wishers have been visiting him in hospital.

Members of the public in the country where he revered have laid flowers and greeting cards at the entrance to the facility, where scores of journalists have been camping out.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Friday said her ex-husband remained in critical care but his condition has improved in recent days.

"I can say from what he was a few days ago, there is a great improvement but clinically he is still unwell," she said.

Obama was to meet young people in Soweto, the scene of the 1976 youth uprising against the Apartheid regime, where he will meet with students.

The township was once home to Mandela, former Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu and other prominent anti-Apartheid struggle leaders.

The US president arrived late Friday from Senegal the first stop in his three-nation African tour that will end in Tanzania next week.