Flags flew at half staff as the body of former Czech president Vaclav Havel was taken to Prague Castle, where he will lie in state ahead of his funeral on Friday. Thousands of people lined the streets of old town Prague as the late president's body was transported to the castle. Many people applauded as the hearse made its way through the mourners, many dressed in black. The procession marks the start of a three day period of mourning.
Leaders from around the world will gather to honor the dissident playwright and former president. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are among the leaders expected to attend Mr. Havel's funeral on Friday. The former Czech leader died in his sleep of respiratory problems Sunday at the age of 75. Mr. Havel, a dissident playwright, was his country's first democratically elected president. On taking office, he oversaw Czechoslovakia's transition to a free-market economy and democracy, as well as its peaceful 1993 division into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Vaclav Havel was the president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 , and the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003.