Egypt's ex-spy chief honored in military funeral

  • Egyptian military policemen carry the flag-draped coffin of Omar Suleiman during his funeral on Saturday.

    By Gianluigi Guercia, AFP/Getty Images

    Egyptian military policemen carry the flag-draped coffin of Omar Suleiman during his funeral on Saturday.

By Gianluigi Guercia, AFP/Getty Images

Egyptian military policemen carry the flag-draped coffin of Omar Suleiman during his funeral on Saturday.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top generals and hundreds of mourners have attended a funeral honoring former spy chief Omar Suleiman, who died this week in a U.S. hospital.

In a military ceremony Saturday, an honor guard of soldiers carried aloft the coffin, draped in Egypt's red, white and black flag, before laying Suleiman to rest at a military cemetery in Cairo.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads Egypt's powerful military council, led the armed forces' delegation at the ceremony. Newly elected President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood sent a representative from his office.

Activists denounced the military funeral, saying Suleiman didn't deserve the honor because his agency suppressed groups like the Brotherhood.

Suleiman died Thursday at the age of 76. He was considered ousted President Hosni Mubarak's most trusted man.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines
Adult Webcams