Lusaka/Johannesburg - Over 14 African heads of state, including Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, were expected to attend the funeral in Zambia Wednesday of late president Levy Mwanawasa.

Mwanawasa, dubbed Mr Integrity for his anti-corruption crusade and his outspokenness on Mugabe's authoritarian rule, died in a Paris hospital two weeks ago at the age of 59 of the effects of a massive stroke. He would have turned 60 on Wednesday.

The state funeral got under way at 7 a. m. (0600 GMT) at parliament house in the capital Lusaka, where a marquee had been erected to house some of the thousands of mourners who came to pay their respects to their president of the past six years.

Ordinary Zambians were invited to follow the proceedings, which began with a church service, on television or radio.

Mugabe, whose country Mwanawasa famously called a "sinking Titanic" last year, was among the first African leaders to arrive in Zambia on Tuesday.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mwanawasa as chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August, and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, whose country chairs the African Union (AU), were also expected to attend.

Both have been invited to address the funeral.

Acting President Rupiah Banda, one of the frontrunners to succeed Banda, is also scheduled to deliver a eulogy.

Mwanawasa was Zambia's third post-independence president and the first to die.

He is survived by his wife Maureen and six children. (dpa)