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Thousands of people attended a state funeral in Addis Ababa on Sunday (September 2) for former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Meles' death at 57 in a Brussels hospital on August 21 left a gaping hole in Ethiopian politics and deprived Western powers of a trusty ally in the fight against Islamist militants in the Horn of Africa. Guerrilla fighter Meles became one of the central political figures on the continent after toppling Mengistu Haile Mariam's military junta in 1991.
A long funeral procession followed Meles' coffin through the Ethiopian capital.
African leaders including Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, were in Addis Ababa to attend the funeral.
