US: A steady stream of mourners passed during the night by the flag-draped coffin of the former US president, Ronald Reagan, a remarkable turnout that prompted officials to extend viewing hours.
Mr Reagan will now lie in repose in the mahogany coffin on a catafalqueat in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library until today at dawn Irish time. His coffin is flanked by an honour guard.
More than 40,000 people had passed through the library in Simi Valley, north of Los Angeles, as of yesterday morning to pay respects to the 40th US president.
Mr Reagan died on Saturday at the age of 93 of pneumonia after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Mrs Nancy Reagan and family members led the seemingly endless procession on Monday, as the former first lady laid her cheek briefly on the coffin.
The public viewing began a weeklong tribute to Mr Reagan that will culminate in a state funeral in the nation's capital and sunset burial back at the library on Friday.
Mr Reagan's body will be flown to Washington to lie in state from this evening.
Mourners bearing flags, flowers and even jars of Mr Reagan's favourite jelly beans have made the trek to the library, a tribute to the Republican president who has been credited with speeding the end of the Cold War and reinvigorating the American spirit.
But while most remembrances have been effusive with praise for the popular conservative, there was some criticism of Mr Reagan's policies, especially in Central America where he was remembered as a Cold War radical whose support for right-wing leaders and rebels cost thousands of lives.
"The Reagan administration really defended and even actively supported some of the worst human-rights violators in the hemisphere," said Mr Daniel Wilkinson of Human Rights Watch in New York.
But there was heavy interest among Americans who flocked to the library to look at the coffin, some moved to tears for the former president who has been out of the public eye for a decade.
Visitors had to park at a nearby college and wait, in some cases for three hours or more, to be shuttled to the library.
Traffic on the Ronald Reagan Freeway leading to the library was jammed before dawn yesterday.
Weather forecasters expected another day of overcast skies and intermittent light drizzle, but people queued nonetheless.
Given the growing difficulty of getting to the library, some people opted to visit the makeshift memorial that sprang up over the weekend at the Santa Monica mortuary where Mr Reagan's body was taken after his death.
That memorial, set against a fountain in the front yard of the mortuary, was full of flowers, American flags and notes of thanks.
Tributes also continued to come in from world leaders.
Pope John Paul sent Mrs Reagan a personal message with praise for what he said was the former president's "noble soul".
While he was president, Mr Reagan met the Pope four times.
- (Reuters)