Former Indonesian president passes away

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Associated Press

Posted online: Monday , January 28, 2008 at 09:46:35
Updated: Monday , January 28, 2008 at 10:03:15

Jakarta, January 28: Former Indonesian president Suharto, who died at the age of 86 on Sunday, would be laid to rest in his hometown of Solo on Monday.

A Hercules C-130 carrying the body of the former president, who led a military dictatorship for three decades, took off from a Jakarta air force base at 8:45 am (local time), bound for the city of Solo, some 400 kilometers east of the capital.

The military plane was accompanied by two commercial aircraft carrying the former dictator's family and friends. "May god bless his soul and forgive his mistakes and sins," said Agung Laksono, the speaker of Indonesia's house of representatives, who led brief ceremony at Suharto's Jakarta villa early Monday.

Suharto died of multiple-organ failure Sunday, after more than three weeks on life support at a Jakarta hospital. He was 86.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has declared a week of national mourning, was to oversee the funeral at the Suharto family mausoleum near Solo.

Although he oversaw some of the worst bloodshed of the 20th century, Suharto is credited with developing Indonesia's economy and will be buried with the highest state honours. A string of the country's political elite visited Suharto's family home on Sunday to pay respects and pray over his body, in a sign of his lingering importance.

Many also attended the ceremony Monday morning, when his family turned Suharto's flag-draped coffin to the military. Onlookers lined the streets near the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base as a motorcade carrying Suharto's body drove by.

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