Angola mourned its former president, José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country for 38 years and left a mixed legacy.
Dos Santos served as President of Angola from 1979 to 2017 without being directly elected.
He died on July 8 at the age of 79 in a Barcelona hospital, where he was admitted after a cardiac arrest.
His funeral ceremony in Luanda came just days after Angolans voted to elect their deputies in a vote that should allow the next president to be chosen, amid stiff competition the country has not seen and criticism of its initial results.
More than a thousand people were present at the Republic Square in the center of the capital during the ceremony, which began on Sunday morning.
Black flags were flown at half mast, and large placards read: “Farewell, friend, president.”
Among the Presidents present were the Heads of State of Portugal, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From the podium, former Namibian President Sam Nujoma hailed Dos Santos as “a loyal statesman and zeal for African unity”.
Before him, Josiane dos Santos spoke wistfully about her father, noting the former Marxist rebel’s love for music.
Dos Santos ended a civil war in 2002 that killed 500,000 people in 27 years. His supporters see him as the “architect of the world”.
Source: AFP