Czechs mourn 'Velvet Revolution' leader Havel

Thousands of Czechs streamed through Prague Castle and the historical city centre on Monday to write condolences and bid farewell to Vaclav Havel, the playwright who became president after leading a "Velvet Revolution" to topple Communist rule.

A day after his death on Sunday at 75 from a respiratory illness aggravated by decades of chain-smoking, the government was to meet to agree plans for a state funeral likely to draw leaders and elder statesmen from across Europe and the world.

At noon, mourners began filing past Havel's closed coffin at the cultural centre he founded in a former church in Prague, just around the corner from the theatre where he made his debut as a playwright.

Lines also formed to sign condolence books at Prague Castle, the seat of power which Havel entered as president in 1989, just weeks after the bloodless revolt in Czechoslovakia and fall of the Berlin Wall announced the end of Europe's Cold War divide.

Other books were opened in public buildings in the Czech Republic, as well as in Slovakia, which separated in 1993.

From Wednesday Havel's body will lie in the castle - a place he never fully grew accustomed to, and whose mediaeval austerity he sought to enliven while head of state by inviting performers and fellow artists including, memorably, the Rolling Stones.

In Brussels and elsewhere, meetings of the European Union began with silent tributes.

Many expect a funeral to be held before Christmas. An aide to Havel said those expected to attend would include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill, as president, famously joined Havel at a Prague jazz club to play saxophone during an official visit in 1994.