Egypt honors former spy chief with military funeral

Omar Suleiman, Hosni Mubarak’s right hand man, laid to rest in Cairo

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s top generals and hundreds of mourners have attended a funeral honoring former spy chief Omar Suleiman, who died this week in a US hospital.

In a military ceremony Saturday, an honor guard of soldiers carried aloft the coffin, draped in Egypt’s red, white and black flag, before laying Suleiman to rest at a military cemetery in Cairo.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads Egypt’s powerful military council, led the armed forces’ delegation at the ceremony. Newly elected President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood sent a representative from his office.

Activists denounced the military funeral, saying Suleiman didn’t deserve the honor because his agency suppressed groups like the Brotherhood.

Suleiman died Thursday at the age of 76. He was considered ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s most trusted man.