President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led the ceremony, which began just before noon at the Suharto family mausoleum near the city of Solo, Mr Suharto's hometown, some 400 kilometres east of the capital.

Mr Suharto died of multiple-organ failure on Sunday, after more than three weeks on life support at a Jakarta hospital. He was 86.

Although he oversaw some of the worst bloodshed of the 20th century, Mr Suharto is credited with developing Indonesia's economy and was buried with the highest state honours.

After a long reading of Mr Suharto's military accomplishments, a shot was fired in his honour and Mr Yudhoyono offered a salute.

'We offer his body to the motherland,' Mr Yudhoyono said. 'His service is an example to us.'

Islamic prayers were said and as his body was lowered, mourners tossed flower petals into his grave. A military band played a dirge.

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Solo to watch the motorcade carry Mr Suharto's body to the mausoleum, many of them sobbing and calling the name of the man whose brutal rule brought stability to Indonesia.

Many waved Indonesian flags and threw flowers at his hearse.

'He was a great man,' said Madam Sumartini, a 65-year-old woman who, like many Indonesians, goes by just one name. 'His death touched us deeply.' Mdm Sumartini came from a nearby village with her four children to watch the funeral procession.

Mr Suharto's body was flown to Solo on Monday morning after a brief ceremony at his Jakarta home, where a string of the country's political elite visited Mr Suharto's family in a sign of his lingering importance.

'May god bless his soul and forgive his mistakes and sins,' said Mr Agung Laksono, the Speaker of Indonesia's house of representatives.

The Hercules C-130 carrying Mr Suharto's body from Jakarta arrived in Solo just after 10am, accompanied by two planes used by his family and friends.

Mr Suharto ruled with a totalitarian dominance that saw soldiers stationed in every village, instilling a deep fear of authority across this South-east Asian nation that stretches across more than 4,825 kilometres.

He was toppled by mass street protests in 1998 after more than three decades in power. His departure from office opened the way for democracy in this nation of 235 million people and he withdrew from public life, rarely venturing from his comfortable Jakarta villa.

Suharto loyalists, who run the courts, have called for forgiveness and for his name to be cleared, but survivors of the atrocities that took place under his rule want those responsible to be held accountable.

Since being forced from power, he had been in and out of hospitals after strokes caused brain damage and impaired his speech.

Mr Suharto's poor health - and continuing corruption, critics charge - also kept him out of court.

The bulk of the political killings occurred during his rise to power in 1965-1966 when between 300,000 and 800,000 alleged communists were rounded up and slain. Over the next three decades, 300,000 more were killed, disappeared or starved in the independence-minded regions of East Timor, Aceh and Papua, human rights groups and the United Nations say.

With the court system paralysed by corruption, the country has not confronted its bloody past. Rather than put on trial those accused of mass murder and multibillion-dollar theft, some members of the political elite consistently called for charges against Mr Suharto to be dropped on humanitarian grounds. -- AP

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