Leaders remember the ‘Great Liberator’

they tend to do when one of theirs has fallen, world leaders converged from near and far for the state funeral of Ronald Reagan who gently steered the Cold War towards a peaceful end.

Those who sat with Reagan among the world's elite 20 years ago perched somberly on pews in the Washington National Cathedral. Their sad eyes were cast on the flag-draped coffin of the former President.

"With the lever of American patriotism, he lifted up the world," former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said. "And so today the world in Prague, in Budapest, in Warsaw, in Sofia, in Bucharest, in Kiev and in Moscow itself the world mourns the passing of the Great Liberator and echoes his prayer: God Bless America."

Seated prominently near the front was Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, who worked with Reagan as both a partner and an adversary.

"Was it accurate to say that Reagan won the Cold War? That's not serious," Mr Gorbachev said on Thursday night during a gathering at the Russian Embassy. "I think we all lost the Cold War, particularly the Soviet Union... We only won when the Cold War ended."

Also among the mourners were the current American president, George W Bush, his four living predecessors George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford as well as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 167 ambassadors, 25 current leaders, 14 foreign ministers and 11 ex-heads of state.

"It is appropriate that the German chancellor says, 'Thank you,' and that is what I'm doing," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. In Germany flags were lowered to half-mast at federal buildings.

While many came here in remembrance of Mr Reagan's role in engineering an end to the Soviet empire, some leaders paid tribute despite few fond memories of the Reagan era.

Grenada, for one, which was invaded at his order, was represented by Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

"Now there's an awakening love, interest and attention in him," said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.

Even the regime of Cuba's Fidel Castro one of communism's last vestiges retracted a harsh statement that said Mr Reagan was "forgetful and irresponsible" and "forgot to take his worst works to the grave".

"President Reagan was a tenacious foe of the Cuban Revolution," read a statement from the Cuban foreign ministry.

But in some parts of the world, bitterness lingered. In Libya, Moammar Gaddafi said: "I express my deep regret because Reagan died before facing justice for his ugly crime that he committed in 1986 against the Libyan children."

Mr Reagan ordered air strikes on Tripoli in retaliation for a disco bombing in Berlin that killed two US soldiers and a Turkish woman, and injured 229 people. Those strikes killed 37 people, including Col Gaddafi's adopted daughter.