Presidents join thousands to pay respects to Scott King

FOUR American presidents joined senators, celebrities and an estimated 10,000 mourners yesterday to say goodbye to Coretta Scott King.

The widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King was praised by President George W Bush as "one of the most admired Americans of our time".

The crowd stood as Mr King's four children walked into New Birth Missionary Baptist Church with Mr Bush and former presidents Clinton, Bush and Carter.

"I've come today to offer the sympathy of our entire nation at the passing of a woman who worked to make our nation whole," Mr Bush told the crowd.

"Coretta Scott King not only secured her husband's legacy, she built her own. Having loved a leader, she became a leader, and when she spoke, Americans listened closely," he said.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Ms King spoke out, not just against racism, but against "the senselessness of war and the solutions for poverty".

Ms King, who carried on her husband's dream of equality for nearly 40 years after his murder, died on January 30, aged 78, after battling ovarian cancer and the effects of a stroke.

The four presidents, poet Maya Angelou and the Kings' children were among at least 39 people scheduled to speak during the funeral.

Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, and Bebe and Cece Winans were slated to perform.

Delivering the eulogy fell to King's youngest child, Bernice, a minister at the megachurch. She was five when her father was assassinated in 1968 and is perhaps best remembered for the photographs of her lying in her black-veiled mother's lap during her father's funeral.

Outside the suburban church yesterday morning, the lines to get into the funeral and attend the final viewing of Ms King's body started forming before 3am.

"There's one word to describe going to go see Coretta historic. It's good to finally see her at peace," said Robert Jackson, a 34-year-old financial consultant from Atlanta whose 10-year-old daughter, Ebony, persuaded him to take her to the church.

More than 160,000 mourners waited to pay their respects at public viewings since Ms King's body was returned to Georgia.

After the funeral, her body was to be placed in a crypt near her husband's tomb at the King Centre, which she built to promote his memory.

Between the tombs is the eternal flame honouring Martin Luther King's memory. On the crypt, inscribed in black, is the Bible passage: "And now abide Faith, Hope, Love, These Three; but the greatest of these is Love."