Czechs mourn 'Velvet Revolution' leader Havel

Czechs streamed in their thousands through Prague Castle and the mediaeval city centre on Monday to write condolences and bid farewell to Vaclav Havel, the playwright-turned-president whose "Velvet Revolution" toppled Communist rule. A day after Havel's death on Sunday at 75 thousands of mourners filed past his closed coffin at the cultural centre he founded in a former church in Prague, just around the corner from the theatre where he made his literary debut.
Prime Minister Petr Necas announced a three-day period of national mourning from Wednesday until Friday, which will culminate in a funeral at Prague Castle's St Vitus cathedral and a nation-wide moment of silence on Friday at noon. Leaders and elder statesmen from across Europe and the world are expected to attend Havel's funeral. Neigbouring Slovakia, which split from a common state with Czechs in 1993, will hold a day of national mourning on Friday.
"He accomplished what we did not believe was possible: He beat communism, and what is more, without a single shot, without a drop of blood spilled. He deserves honour," said Lumir Nemec, a 72-year-old pensioner waiting in a line stretching hundreds of metres to pay respects to the former president.
Lines also formed to sign condolence books at Prague Castle, the seat of power which Havel entered as president in 1989, just weeks after the bloodless revolt in Czechoslovakia and fall of the Berlin Wall announced the end of Europe's Cold War divide. From Wednesday Havel's body will lie in the castle - a place he never fully grew accustomed to, and whose mediaeval austerity he sought to enliven while head of state by inviting performers and fellow artists including, memorably, the Rolling Stones.
In Brussels and elsewhere, meetings of the European Union began with silent tributes. An aide to Havel said those expected to attend the funeral would include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill, as president, famously joined Havel at a Prague jazz club to play saxophone during an official visit in 1994. Havel died on Sunday at his country home in Hradecek, north-east of Prague, after a long respiratory illness.