Mosques throughout the country were packed with worshippers attending official Prayers for the Missing.

Sermons and verses from the Koran filled the streets of the cities and villages up and down the country, through loudspeakers attached to the mosques

"We regard them martyrs and plead with God to forgive their sins," said the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Tantawi, Sunni Islam's top religious authority.

He said life contained sadness, which ultimately humans had to accept.

Sheikh Tantawi, was leading worshippers in prayers at the armed forces mosque in Cairo.

"We must all submit to God's will with patience and good grace," Sheikh Tantawi said in his sermon.

He recalled a verse from the Koran: "Death will touch you wherever you are, even where you think you are safest."

'Died in service'

Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi attended the prayers, which were held in particular remembrance of the 30 or so officers who were killed as they returned from training in the United States.

Many worshippers were overcome by grief

Security was tight around the mosque in Egypt's capital Cairo, where top military officers joined the worshippers.

The victims were described as having "died in service".

"In Islam, anyone who dies for their country is considered a martyr, and these officers were on a mission so they died in service," an army brigadier-general told the Agence France Presse news agency.

'Feeling the pain'

Another cleric said the all the victims were considered martyrs since they died "terrified" as in battle.

Many of the worshippers were overwhelmed with grief.

"We prayed for their souls so they go to heaven," said Abu Tayf Sayyed Nasser, a worshipper at Egypt's main mosque, Al-Azhar, which sits on the edge of Khan el-Khalili bazaar - one of the capital's main tourist attractions.

Another worshipper, Mustafar Kamal, said he was attending prayers to join in the grief of the families of the victims.

"Every citizen should feel the pain."

Prayers were also held at some of the country's churches, ahead of main memorial services, which will take place on Sunday.

'Too young to die'

At the Virgin Mary Church in Cairo, the country's Coptic Christian minority remembered Bassam Bahgad Badieh, a cabin flight attendant who was on-board the flight.

Mr Badieh's father had to be helped from the Church and, as he left, he screamed out that his only son was too young to die.

Prayers were also said in the transit lounge of Cairo International Airport by workers and airline passengers.

The Boeing crash has dominated public life in Egypt throughout the week.

Newspapers have been filled with messages of condolences and the country's television channels have restricted their musical output to religious music in commemoration of those who died.