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Cyprus government declares 3-day mourning period for dead ex-president Glafcos Clerides

Associated Press
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A man looks at a poster showing the former Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides outside of the clinic in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. Former Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, who dedicated most of his 50 years in politics to trying to reunify the ethnically split island and guided it to European Union membership, has died. He was 94.(AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) (The Associated Press)

Joseph Kasios, Clerides’ personal physician, left, exits the clinic to speak to the media as he passes by a poster showing the Former Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. Former Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, who dedicated most of his 50 years in politics to trying to reunify the ethnically split island and guided it to European Union membership, has died. He was 94. (AP Photo/Maria Karadjias) (The Associated Press)

Cyprus' government has declared a three-day mourning period for late former President Glafcos Clerides.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said after a Cabinet meeting Saturday that the respected politician's state funeral Tuesday will be held with honors befitting a sitting president and will be a public holiday.

Flags will fly at half-staff at all public buildings and schools and all public events will be cancelled over the mourning period.

Clerides' body will lie in state at the Orthodox Christian Cathedral of the Lord's Wisdom in Nicosia until his funeral.

Clerides, who died Friday, was widely regarded as a world-class statesman who guided Cyprus into the European Union.

He strove for most of his five-decade long political career to reunify the ethnically split country, but an accord eluded him.