Central London to be last for Thatcher

The funeral of former British premier Margaret Thatcher was set to take place on Wednesday, beginning with a ceremonial procession through central London, dpa reported.

More than 700 members of the military are to take part in the funeral parade, which will set out from Westminister and end at St Paul's Cathedral where a service will be held at 11 am (1000 GMT).

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger; Queen Elizabeth II; the last South African Apartheid president, FW de Klerk; former premier Tony Blair; and internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee were to be among the 2,000 guests.

Thousands of police officers were to provide security, with commentators suggesting that a focus will be on preventing disruption from planned protests along the route.

"The right to conduct peaceful protest is a tenant of our democracy," said Christine Jones of the Metropolitan police. "However that right is qualified in that protest does not stray into acts of crime or violence or the instigation of crime or violence."

Groups on Facebook have called for a "mass back-turning protest" as the procession goes past.

Thatcher, who served from 1979 to 1990, left a divisive legacy with some lauding her as having "saved Britain" from economic decline and others regarding her and her economic reforms as heartless and destructive.


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