THOUSANDS of people flocked to the Orthodox Cathedral in Athens yesterday where the body of the former Greek prime minister and veteran socialist leader, Mr Andreas Papandreou, is lying in state.
Mr Papandreou (77), who died of heart failure on Sunday, will be buried tomorrow with full honours usually accorded to a head of estate. His funeral will take place at midday. He will be buried next to his father, the former centrist prime minister, George Papandreou, in a central Athens cemetery, according to the Interior Ministry.
A military procession will accompany the funeral cortege and public services will be closed for the day. A fly past by air force jets is planned.
The crowd continued to spill onto the square in front of the cathedral yesterday as Greeks waited to pay a final homage to Mr Papandreou. Many carried single red roses or carnations to lay near Mr Papandreou's flag draped coffin, which was borne to the cathedral on Sunday amid an emotional crowd lining the route. Those who reached the nave knelt briefly and moved on.
Thousands of mourners also took to the streets elsewhere in Greece, notably in Crete, a stronghold of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), which Mr Papandreou founded in 1974, and in the western port of Patrai, home of his forebears.
Greek politicians, prime ministers and heads of state around the world continued to pay tribute to Mr Papandreou. Radio and television programmes were given over to tributes and documentaries. Newspapers published special editions.
Mr Papandreou's death came as a surprise as his health appeared to have stabilised since March, when he left hospital following a four month stay prompted by pneumonia and respiratory and kidney problems.
His health forced him to cut short his third term as prime minister and make way for Mr Costas Simitis, a fierce critic of Mr Papandreou's nationalism, notably his handling of Greece's long running disputes with Turkey over Aegean Sea territory and the divided island of Cyprus.
Mr Simitis and the Interior Minister, Mr Akis Tsohatzopoulos, look certain to wage a bitter battle to succeed Mr Papandreou as party leader. Pasok will elect his successor on Sunday at the end of a four day congress attended by more than 4,000 delegates.
The successor will be the first new Pasok president since 1974 when Mr Papandreou forged the party from various left wing factions after the fall of a seven year military dictatorship.
Both Mr Simitis and Mr Tsohatzopoulos contend that their election will unite the divided and disoriented party, trailing slightly in opinion polls behind the conservative opposition, New Democracy.
. A book of condolences for Mr Papandreou has been opened in the Greek Embassy in Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin. The book can be signed today or tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.