Blair says Live 8 helped G8 deal

The deal agreed by G8 leaders to help African countries is a "mighty achievement" for Live 8 campaigners, said Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He praised organisers of Make Poverty History and Live 8, who drew attention to poverty by putting on gigs around the world and wearing wristbands.

The aim of the campaign was to pressure world leaders into helping Africa.

At a meeting last week G8 promised to increase African aid by £14.7bn ($25bn) and cancel debts of 18 countries.

Click here to see the stars perform in Hyde Park

During the Live 8 campaign, 160 top artists got together to perform at 10 different venues around the globe at the world's biggest concert on 2 July 2005.

At least 1.5 million people watched the event live and millions more tuned in to watch it on TV.

The largest concert was held in London, where 200,000 people packed out Hyde Park.

Aid progress

Bob Geldof, one of the main Live 8 organisers, said he gave the G8 summit "10 out of 10 on aid, eight out of 10 on debt".

"Never before have so many people forced a change of policy onto a global agenda. If anyone had said eight weeks ago will we get a doubling of aid, will we get a deal on debt, people would have said 'no'," Mr Geldof said.