January
28, 2008
Millions of Indonesians Mourn
as Suharto is Buried
Solo (Indonesia)
The body of former Indonesian president Suharto was laid to rest at
his family's mausoleum near the central Java city of Solo on Monday
in a state funeral attended by the country's top leaders.
Family members, all dressed in black, took turns placing flowers on
the coffin of the second Indonesian president before it was laid in
its grave. A military guard of honor fired salvos in tribute to the
late strongman.
A somber mood permeated the elaborate burial complex of Astana
Giribangun in Karanganyar regency in central Java while hundreds of
ministers and state guests paid their respects.
Suharto, a former five-star general, died following multiple organ
failure Sunday at Jakarta's Pertamina Hospital, where he had been
treated for 23 days. He was 86.
A small military ceremony plus a traditional Javanese ritual by
members of his family were held in front of his Jakarta home before
the coffin, which was brought out by eight soldiers, was flown to
central Java from an air force base in the national capital.
Thousands of Indonesians lined the streets all the way from his
residence in central Jakarta to Halim Perdanakusuma air force base
in east Jakarta, waving when the motorcade passed them.
After arrival in Solo accompanied by family members, the coffin was
driven to the Suharto mausoleum in a motorcade of high-ranking
civilian and military officials.
Millions of onlookers, many of whom had waited for hours, lined the
35-km route from the airport to the cemetery, where he was buried
next to his wife Siti Suhartinah who died in 1996.
There has been round-the-clock television coverage of the passing of
the "smiling general" and "father of development" who led the
world's largest Muslim-majority country with an iron fist for 32
years.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led the military
ceremony honoring Suharto, a sign that the current leadership is
prepared to downplay the brutality and rampant corruption of the
former strongman's regime in the interests of national unity.
Yudhoyono formally received the coffin carried by eight soldiers and
covered by the national flag of red and white.
Hundreds of dignitaries and old friends flocked to the burial
complex in central Java to pay their last respects to a man both
admired as one of Asia's longest-serving leaders and reviled as one
of the continent's most corrupt leaders in the 20th century.
Millions nationwide held prayer services and cited verses from the
Koran for Suharto.
"My father has returned to God," said Suharto's eldest daughter Siti
Hadijanti Rukmana at a news conference at the hospital shortly after
his death.
A mourning period of seven days was announced by the government
which ordered the Indonesian flag to be lowered to half mast across
the country during the period.
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