Nelson Mandel's "Council of Elders"

clipped from english.aljazeera.net Mandela unveils 'council of elders' Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was invited to join the group but is under house arrest in her homeland [EPA] Nelson Mandela has marked his 89th birthday by forming a "council of elders" dedicated to finding new ways to resolve some of the world's longest-running crises. The former South African president launched his fellow elder statesmen on a new venture to foster peace, reduce conflict and despair during a birthday celebration on Wednesday.   Among them are Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, Jimmy Carter, the former US president and Desmond Tutu, the retired South African archbishop.   Mandela said he hoped the new humanitarian alliance of Nobel peace laureates, politicians and development experts could make a difference.   The group called The Elders was an idea of British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel, both of whom were present at the launch.   I hope figure everything out before they all kick-off. Seriously though, there are a lot of thoughtful, influential people here. This could be good (if people will listen).