Pretoria: World leaders bowed and prayed on Wednesday before the flag-draped casket containing the body of Nelson Mandela, having a final look at the anti-apartheid icon in the amphitheater where he was sworn in 19 years earlier as South Africa's first black president.
Some made the sign of the cross, others simply spent a few moments gazing at Mandela's face through a glass plane atop the coffin at the Union Buildings in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.
Leaders like Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, South African President Jacob Zuma and others passed by the casket in two lines.
Four junior naval officers in white uniforms kept watch. Celebrities like singer Bono of the band U2 also paid their respects.
So did F.W. de Klerk, the last president of white rule who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for ending the apartheid era.
Mandela ‘s widow Graca Machel, his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and other family members also viewed his body.
