Foreign troops stand guard at Kabila funeral

The state funeral of assassinated Congo president Laurent Kabila has taken place, with his family and top officials guarded by foreign troops.

Congolese officials chose to leave their own troops either unarmed or further away from the centre of power.

Kabila's son and successor was joined by the nation's key military allies as the coffin was paraded through the streets of the capital Kinshasa.

The body was then placed in a white marble mausoleum.

Joseph Kabila, who was quickly named president after his father was killed, remained sombre through the service, watching silently as dozens of dignitaries bowed before the white and gold coffin.

Members of Kabila's inner circle remembered him as a hero of Congolese history, who toppled the longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

"It is true that the disappearance of Laurent Kabila is a painful event," said Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji, speaking at the heavily protected People's Palace.

"But if we think about it, we will understand that he accomplished his mission in snatching back the power confiscated for many decades and returning it to the people."

In many ways, though, the service showed the irony of Kakudji's words.

Surrounding Joseph Kabila and other top officials were heavily armed soldiers in jungle camouflage - nearly all of them either Angolan, Zimbabwean or Namibian.

At one point, a soldier in jungle camouflage opened the coffin, revealing the face of the elder Kabila. The scene, which was broadcast on national television, may have been planned to disprove widespread rumours that he had already been buried.

The presidents of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia flew into Kinshasa. All three were cheered by the crowds.

The leaders of Rwanda and Uganda, backing the other side in the Congo civil war, were asked not to attend.