Reagan's state funeral caps days of mourning

US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush pay their respects as they stand near the casket of former US president Ronald Reagan while inside the US Capitol Rotunda on Thursday in Washington, DC. Reagan's funeral service was held at the National Cathedral yesterday in Washington, DC. PHOTO: AFP

Many past and present international leaders and veterans of the Cold War struggle against communism that Reagan helped end were attending the service, billed as one of the largest gatherings of international dignitaries in years.

Government departments, the US stock exchange and many businesses were closed as Americans paused to pay tribute to their 40th president.

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President Bush was set to deliver a 15-minute eulogy at the funeral. "This will be the president speaking on behalf of the nation as we say good-bye to a great leader," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a staunch Reagan ally whose health is too frail to permit her to speak, will attend. She recorded a message in advance that will be played to the congregation.

Bush's father, former president George Bush who was Reagan's vice president, was also expected to deliver remarks. Other dignitaries in the congregation of 4,000 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who crossed swords with Reagan at memorable summits in the 1980s and then allowed the Cold War to end peacefully months after Reagan left office in 1989.

Lech Walesa, the one-time Polish shipyard electrician who led the Solidarity labor movement and later became president of a post-communist Poland, was also attending.

Tens of thousands of Americans filed past Reagan's body as it lay in state at the US Capitol. The public viewing ended on Friday morning, as officials prepared to transport the body to the Cathedral.