Michelle Obama arrives home after African tour

WASHINGTON: First Lady Michelle Obama was back in the United States late Sunday after a week-long tour of southern Africa where she met icons of the liberation movement and took in a short safari.

Obama, who traveled with her daughters Malia and Sasha, two of their cousins, and her mother, Marian Robinson, landed just after 10:30 pm (0230 GMT Monday) at Andrews Air Force Base, just outside the US capital, a journalist on the flight reported.

Obama, who told reporters accompanying her that she was a "direct representative" of her husband during stops in South Africa and neighboring Botswana, met with legends like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu during the trip.

At every stop she also met with young women to encourage them to follow the lead of the liberation leaders to work for social change, whether fighting AIDS, corruption or poverty.

President Obama, whose father was Kenyan, has visited sub-Saharan Africa once since he took office, with a trip to Ghana in July 2009.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011