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Sharon funeral highlights conflicting views of former leader

13 January 2014 22:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israel buried former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his family farm on Monday, celebrating the military achievements of a man seen as a war hero at home but as a war criminal by many in the Arab world, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Eulogised first in a ceremony in Jerusalem, and later in the green fields of his southern estate, a stream of speakers hailed a life entwined with that of his country, while gently alluding to the controversies that also defined his career.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British prime minister Tony Blair laid wreaths at his grave, 10 Km (6 miles) from the border of the Gaza strip, with the army on high alert lest any rockets be fired out of the Palestinian territory.

The army said two missiles were shot into southern Israel shortly after the funeral ended, causing no damage or injury.

"We are accompanying to his final resting place today a soldier, an exceptional soldier, a commander who knew how to win," Israeli President Shimon Peres said in Jerusalem, Sharon's hefty coffin draped in Israel's blue and white flag.

Sharon, 85, died on Saturday after spending the last eight years of his life motionless in a hospital bed, pitched into a coma by a stroke and far from the public gaze.

The death of the ex-general reopened debate into his legacy. Foes denounced his ruthless conduct in military operations while friends praised him as a strategic genius who as prime minister stunned the world in 2005 by pulling Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip - a Palestinian territory in the south.

"The security of his people was always Arik's unwavering mission - a non-breakable commitment to the future of Jews, whether 30 years or 300 years from now," Biden said, using Sharon's nickname.

There was no direct mention of events that made Sharon a hated figure in the Arab world, such as the 1982 invasion of Lebanon that he masterminded as defense minister. However, in his eulogy, Blair said a man known at home as "the bulldozer" had left "considerable debris in his wake".

Biden referred simply to his "mistakes", saying: "History will judge that he also lived in complex times, in a very complex neighborhood."

The Israeli foreign ministry said dignitaries had come from 21 countries, mainly in Europe, but did not list any delegations from the Middle East, Africa or Latin America.