Associated Press writers Nancy Benac, Kimberly Dozier, Josh Lederman and Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.

NPR: Smaller Crowd, But Still Excitement This Time

The coffin was accompanied by hundreds of mourners, including Mr Meles' widow Azeb Mesfin, who was seen being comforted by officials.

BBC: Thousands of Ethiopians attend Meles Zenawi burial

Our correspondent in Addis Ababa said that Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin refused to be drawn, at a news conference, into saying whether Ethiopia planned military spending cuts, saying only that Ethiopia had learnt lasting lessons about defending herself in the past couple of years.

BBC: Horn POW releases delayed