Warrior burial for Fiji leader

A state funeral was held before the coffin was taken to Lakeba

Fiji's former leader Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara has been given a warrior chief's burial, ending six days of official mourning in the South Pacific nation.

Thousands of mourners crammed on to his tiny home island of Lakeba for the ceremony led by a barefoot bishop.

Conch shells, which have been blown continuously since he was laid in state six days ago, finally fell silent.

Ratu Mara, who died aged 83, was hailed as modern Fiji's founding father after independence from Britain in 1970.

He died earlier this month from complications after a stroke.

The burial ceremony contained a mix of traditional Fijian and British military rituals.

Some 600 soldiers dressed in red tunics carried the flag-draped coffin along a path of decorated tapa mats, cloth pounded from tree bark.

Ratu Mara was buried alongside his ancestors

Women from the Lau islands lined the route.

Warriors wearing only palm leaf skirts and carrying clubs stood guard at the entrance to the chief burial grounds that only close relatives - including his widow Lady Lala Mara - were allowed into.

Fiji's current president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase stood respectfully outside the fenced compound.

Ratu Mara was the Tui Lau, or paramount chief of the Vuanirewa royal warrior clan of the Lau islands in east Fiji.

He became Fiji's first and longest-serving prime minister after independence and later became president.

He was forced to stand aside during a nationalist coup four years ago.