LONDON (AP) - Nelson Mandela yesterday compared widespread poverty in developing countries to man-made evils such as slavery and apartheid, and urged wealthy nations to do more to fight it.

At a rally in central London's Trafalgar Square, the former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner said developed nations must provide more aid to poor countries and lift their crippling debts.

"In this new century, millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free," Mandela said before a crowd of several thousand people.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made, and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings."

Mandela was speaking on the eve of a London meeting by the finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialised nations. He is expected to make a separate speech to the ministers with a similar message.

On Wednesday, the frail 86 year-old statesman met with British Treasury chief Gordon Brown, and he planned to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair late yesterday. Blair has made doubling development aid to Africa a priority for his chairmanship of the Group of Eight industrialised nations this year.

Brown is expected to use the meeting of G-7 finance ministers to get backing for the International Finance Facility plan, which seeks to raise US$50 billion (euro38 billion) a year for development aid by selling bonds on the world's capital markets.

In his speech at Trafalgar Square, Mandela endorsed a campaign by Make Poverty History, the British arm of Global Call to Action Against Poverty, a coalition of charities, trade unions, lobby groups, faith communities and high-profile individuals leading efforts to tackle global poverty.

He said developed nations know what needs to be done to fight the crisis, but they are falling far behind in their promises.

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