Czechs mourn Velvet Revolution icon Vaclav Havel

Czechs paid homage Monday to celebrated anti-communist dissident and ex-president Vaclav Havel as officials declared three days of national mourning and set his funeral for Friday. A state funeral for Havel, who succumbed Sunday to circulatory failure caused by long-term health woes at the age of 75, will be held in Prague's historic Saint Vitus Cathedral at Friday noon (1100 GMT), the office of Havel's successor Vaclav Klaus said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was likely to attend, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli President Shimon Peres, officials and local media said. "The Czech nation and the whole of Europe has lost the most important Czech of the 20th century, so it's good that the state will honour him," said Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, former head of Havel's office and his close friend. Prime Minister Petr Necas announced the national mourning period from Wednesday through Friday "to honour the memory of the first Czech president Vaclav Havel," he said. Havel, a dissident playwright, steered his nation through the bloodless 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled communist rule in Czechoslovakia, which then split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. He served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and subsequently of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. The government of neighbouring Slovakia has declared a day of national mourning on Friday. In central Prague, thousands of people braved frosty temperatures in a lengthy queue outside a former church waiting to pay their respects to Havel, whose casket was on public viewing there. The crowd filled the narrow cobble-stoned street leading to the historic church building which Havel's foundation turned into a non-denominational spiritual centre. "I admired the man incredibly for his courage, his noble character, his ideas, for the sacrifice he made for us all," said a visibly moved Jan Zelenka, the editor of several of Havel's books, queuing with a pink rose. Hana Joova, a violinist who played at Havel's 70th birthday party, clutched a bouquet of red and white flowers adorned with a heart. "We're terribly sorry. It's such a loss," she told AFP. Havel's casket will remain on public viewing until Wednesday and then be moved to Prague Castle for two days. On Friday morning, it will be taken to the cathedral for the memorial service and a requiem mass, said Prague archbishop Dominik Duka. Havel's body later will be cremated to comply with his family's wishes. Hundreds of mourners also came to Prague Castle Monday to sign condolence books for Havel. "Mr President meant a lot to me as a statesman, and a man too. I liked him in all respects, he was an honest man. I feel very sad," a weeping Marta Cabanova, a Prague pensioner, told AFP. Havel died Sunday at his weekend home in the village of Hradecek, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) northeast of Prague, where he retreated to convalesce this past summer. Outside the house, mourners set up a special memorial of candles and two beer bottles from a local brewery where Havel worked in 1974 after communist authorities banned him from theatres.