VATICAN CITY, April 8: Pope John Paul II was laid to rest in Saint Peter’s basilica on Friday after an elaborate and emotional funeral rite attended by about one million people and watched by countless others around the world.

Vatican officials said the pope’s body, encased in three caskets, was buried in the crypt close to the spot believed to contain the remains of Peter, the apostle chosen by Jesus Christ to found his church almost 2,000 years ago.

The Polish-born pope died Saturday aged 84 after a 26-year reign, the third longest in history.

About 300,000 mourners thronged in and around Saint Peter’s Square, where the pope’s body lay in a plain wooden coffin during the mass attended by the political and religious leaders of more than half the world’s nations.

Around 700,000 other pilgrims filled surrounding streets to watch the ceremony on giant video screens.

At one point the mass seemed about to turn into a demonstration of Polish fervour when a large section of the crowd interrupted the ritual with calls for the immediate canonisation of the pope.

World leaders, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US President George W. Bush, sat on the left-hand side of the esplanade in serried ranks of mourning black.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, the largest Catholic country, was also present, was were French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who broke off campaigning for the May 5 general election to fly to Rome. A Pakistan delegation led by Religious Minister Ijazul Haq also participated.—AFP