Wailing and shouting, hundreds of thousands of mourners made their way in a somber but angry procession Wednesday from the home of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to his burial place in an unfinished mosque he had financed.

Hariri, a popular figure to many in Lebanon and a central figurein reconstructing the country after a devastating 15-year civil war, was assassinated Monday in a powerful explosion in central Beirut.

Lebanese from all walks of life and religious groups, many waving Lebanese flags and banners reading "Syria Out!", walked for more than two hours in an emotional but orderly manner from Hariri's home to the Martyr's Square.

People threw rice from balconies onto the ambulances carrying the coffins as the procession passed by.

The family believed Hariri's death was partly due to the government's failure to provide security, and at their request, no Lebanese officials attended the funeral.

The family also said they did not want a state funeral but one that the people of Lebanon could attend.

Crowds had begun jamming the streets in the Martyr's Square in downtown Beirut since 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT), where a specially constructed burial site at the massive Mohammed Al Amin mosque would be Hariri's final resting place.

Ambulances carrying the coffins of Hariri and six of his bodyguards and a paramedic, who were also killed in the blast, werebrought to a halt at the edge of the square.

In tears, Hariri's sons and relatives bore his coffin, draped ina Lebanese flag, into the especially erected prayer hall.

Some mourners fainted amid chaotic scenes as the crowd surged toHariri's coffin to pass it overhead before he was laid to rest.

Hariri's eldest son, Bahaa, asked for calmness from the wailing crowd so that prayers for the dead could be read.

The Islamic call to prayer was mixed with chimes of church bellsand chanting tributes of the mourners for the former prime minister.

French President Jacques Chirac, a personal friend of Hariri, arrived in Beirut and went straight to the Hariri family mansion, where he offered his condolences.

Apart from hundreds of thousands of mourners, who had taken to the streets in one of Lebanon's biggest and most emotional gatherings for decades, several European and Arab senior officials,including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, were among foreign dignitaries in Beirut for the burial.

Hariri, 60, a driving force behind an ambitious postwar reconstruction program, had resigned as prime minister in October 2004.

He resigned after falling foul of Syria over its role in extending the incumbent Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's term.

His stepdown came at a time when Syria is facing mounting pressure to end its influence in Lebanon's affairs. Syria, a traditional broker in Lebanon's politics, threw weight behind Lahoud.

US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, who was also in Beirut for the funeral, said Syria must take Hariri's death as a cue to end a military presence maintained since 1976 civil war and to stop political meddling in Lebanon.

Syria, a traditional power-broker in Lebanon, maintains about 14,000 troops in its tiny neighbor.