Papst-Trauerfeier Invasion der Staatsoberhäupter
Teodoro Obian Nguema is the president of Equatorial Guinea and is considered one of the most egregious dictators on the planet. He came to power in 1979 after having his uncle, President Francisco Macias, executed. He is known for having his opponents thrown in the infamous Black Beach Prison where torture is allegedly rampant.
Olusegun Obasanjo is the president of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. He is trying to battle the massive amounts of corruption that plague the country.
Mohammad Khatami has been the president of Iran since 1997. Recently, he has been accused by the international community of harboring a secret nuclear weapons development program. The United States considers Iran to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
United States President George W. Bush, his wife Laura, former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pay their last respects to the pope on Wednesday. They are also attending the funeral.
Gerard Latortue has been the interim president of Haiti since last March. His Caribbean country is considered the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
Lee Hae-Chan has been the Prime Minister of South Korea since July, 2004. Because of his resistance against the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s, he spent a total of four years in prison.
Joseph Kabila is the president of the war-torn country of Democratic Republic of Congo. Last April, he survived a coup attempt. His father Laurent was the long-time autocratic ruler of the country, formerly called Zaire. He was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001.
Bashar el Assad is the president of Syria and has been accused of supporting the Iraqi resistance. Under intense international pressure, he has recently announced the withdrawal of Syrian troops from neighboring Lebanon.
His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrill, head of external church relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, is also on hand to honor the pope on Friday.
Metropolitan Christodoulos is head of the Greek Orthodox Church. He came under pressure to resign this year amid corruption scandals and supposed contacts to drug dealers.
Robert Mugabe has been the autocratic leader of Zimbabwe for the last 25 years. Three years ago, the European Union banned him from entering the 25-member club because he barred election observers from entry into his country. The Italian government made an exception to the ban so that he could attend the pope's funeral.
King Letsie III (in a photo from 1997) is the head of Lesotho, a small country surrounded by South Africa. He has been ruler since 1996 when his father, Moshoeshoe II died in an accident. One third of the two million population of Lesotho suffer from hunger and in March, the government declared a state of emergency.
Mesrob II is the patriarch of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Istanbul. With its some 65,000 members, it is the largest Christian community in Istanbul.
