LOME, Togo (AFP) – Thousands of Togolese lined the streets of the capital Lome yesterday to pay their last respects as a state funeral was held for the West African country’s long-serving ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema.

The body of the strongman, who ruled Togo for 38 years, was flown to the capital from his native village in the north for an official ceremony attended by foreign leaders including representatives of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union.

International pressure from these groups had forced Eyadema’s son, Faure Gnassingbe, who was installed in power by the military immediately after his father’s death on February 5, to resign and call national elections. Eyadema, who seized the reins of Togo in a coup in 1967 and had been Africa’s longest-serving ruler, died while flying to France for medical treatment.

The state funeral began with a military salute by the country’s armed forces as Eyadema’s body arrived at the airport in Lome.

Among the army guard at the airport was another of Eyadema’s sons, Rock Gnassingbe, who held a portrait of his father as an artillery salute was fired.

The coffin was loaded aboard an open army vehicle and thousands of Togolese lined the streets as the procession made its way to Parliament for the funeral ceremony.

All along the procession route were huge pictures of Eyadema and banners saying, “Papa Eyadema in Heaven, protect your people always.”

Many people wore T-shirts emblazoned with “Eyadema is immortal!”

A helicopter trailing a huge Togo flag flew above the procession to Parliament, where Eyadema’s coffin was placed below huge portraits of the former leader.

Some 4,000 attended the ceremony in the building, with thousands more watching outside on huge television screens.

Several African heads of state came to pay their last respects, including AU chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the president of Nigeria; ECOWAS leader Mamadou Tandja, president of Niger; and presidents Mathieu Kerekou of Benin, John Kufuor of Ghana and Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast.

Other officials at the funeral included French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier; Michel de Bonnecorse, adviser on Africa to French President Jacques Chirac; and the EU development commissioner Louis Michel.

Several opposition leaders were also in attendance.

Eyadema’s daughter Beheza Gnassingbe delivered the eulogy, while Prime Minister Koffi Sama interrupted his address several times in tears.

Military, parliamentary and party leaders also paid tribute to Eyadema.

The coffin was due to be flown back to his home village of Pya yesterday evening for burial on Tuesday.

Although Eyadema’s son Faure Gnassingbe was forced to resign as president, he remains the favourite to win in elections set for April 24.

Opposition groups have been struggling to agree on who will challenge Gnassingbe amid fears that exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, head of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), will be barred from running in the election.