VATICAN CITY - Political and religious leaders as well as royals from around the world are expected to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday at the Vatican.
The funeral will be held at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Friday and his body will be buried in the Vatican in line with tradition, rather than in his native Poland.
Among those who have confirmed their attendance are US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Many countries and royal courts have not yet announced who they will send to the funeral, but the following is a preliminary list by region of some of the main figures who are attending or are expected to attend:
EUROPE:
Albania: Prime Minister Fatos Nano, President Alfred Moisiu
Austria: President Heinz Fischer
Belgium: Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
Belgium: King Albert II and Queen Paola
Britain: Prime Minister Tony Blair
Britain: Prince Charles
Bulgaria: President Georgi Parvanov
Croatia: President Stipe Mesic
Denmark: Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Estonia: President Arnold Ruutel
European Union: Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
Finland: Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen
France: President Jacques Chirac
Germany: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President Horst Koehler
Greece: President Carolos Papoulias
Ireland: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, President Mary McAleese
Latvia: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Lithuania: President Valdas Adamkus
Luxembourg: Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker
Luxembourg: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
Netherlands: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
Norway: Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
Norway: Queen Sonja
Poland: President Aleksander Kwasniewski, former president Lech Walesa, Prime Minister Marek Belka
Portugal: President Jorge Sampaio, Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral
Romania: Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu
Russia: Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov
Serbia-Montenegro: President Svetozar Marovic, Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic
Slovenia: President Janez Drnovsek, Prime Minister Janez Jansa
Spain: Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos
Spain: King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia
Sweden: King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia
Switzerland: President Samuel Schmid
Turkey: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Ukraine: President Viktor Yushchenko
NORTH AMERICA:
Canada: Prime Minister Paul Martin
United States: President George W. Bush
United Nations: Secretary General Kofi Annan
LATIN AMERICA:
Argentina: Vice President Daniel Scioli, Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa
Bolivia: President Carlos Mesa, Foreign Minister Juan Ignacio Siles
Brazil: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Colombia: Vice President Francisco Santos
Costa Rica: President Abel Pacheco, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar
Cuba: Parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon
Ecuador: President Lucio Gutierrez, Foreign Minister Patricio Zuquilanda
El Salvador: Foreign Minister Francisco Lainez
Guatamala: President Oscar Berger, Foreign Minister Jorge Briz
Honduras: President Ricardo Maduro
Mexico: President Vicente Fox
Nicaragua: President Enrique Bolanos
Panama: First Lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos, wife of President Martin Torrijos
Uruguay: First Lady Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vasquez
Venezuela: Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez
ASIA:
Australia: Governor General Michael Jeffery
Bangladesh: Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf
India: Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekawat
Indonesia: Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Freddy Numberi
Philippines: President Gloria Arroyo
Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Christian Affairs Minister Milroy Fernando.
MIDDLE EAST:
Israel: President Moshe Katzav, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
Lebanon: President Emile Lahoud and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri
Palestinian Authority: prime minister Ahmed Qorei
Syria: President Bashar al-Assad
AFRICA:
Democratic Republic of Congo: President Joseph Kabila
Equatorial Guinea: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Mauritius: Prime Minister Paul Berenger
RELIGIOUS NON-CATHOLIC LEADERS:
Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church
Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Foreign Church Relations Department, of the Russian Orthodox Church
Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church
Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Amar
04/05/2005 10:29 GMT