Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in south Beirut on Tuesday for the funeral of top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, seen by many as a modern face of Islam but also named on a US "terrorist" list.Lebanon was holding an official day of mourning for the grand ayatollah, who died in hospital on Sunday at the age of 75 of internal bleeding.
Waving black flags and chanting their loyalty to the imam Hussein, the founder of Shiite Islam, Fadlallah's followers and admirers joined a funeral convoy from his home to the Hassanein mosque amid tight security.
Zahra Omeish, 65, braved the heat and crowd to pay tribute to the spiritual leader of Lebanon's Shiite community.
"He was our father, our brother, our friend," she wept, leaning on a walking cane as she inched her way along with the crowd behind Fadlallah's casket, heading to the mosque, has favourite, where he will be buried.