Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid who passed away at the Cipto Mangunkusomo Hospital in Jakarta on Wednesday night December 30,2009. JP/Nurhayati

The body of former president Abdurrahman Wahid was carried to the Halim Perdana Kusuma airport in Jakarta from his resident in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, on Thursday morning to be flown to his hometown in Jombang, East Java.

Thousands of people packed his resident in Ciganjur and even lined up along the street to bid farewell to their beloved leader.

These people chanted prayers for Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, while the convoy of cars bringing Wahid's body left Ciganjur. They still chanted the prayer even after the convoy disappeared from their sight.

The Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization which Wahid chaired for years, said that the late statesman would be buried in the family grave at Tebu Ireng Cemetery in Jombang.

“That is Ansyari's cemetery. Gus Dur's grandfather is also buried there,” Zuhairi Misrowi told tempointeraktif.com.

Gus Dur had been treated in the intensive care unit of Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta in the past few days, and he died Wednesday evening. He was 69.

Funeral

Current Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led Thursday a state funeral for former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Yudhoyono arrived at Gus Dur's funeral in Jombang, East Java, accompanied by Vice President Boediono, TVOne aired.

"I, on behalf of the nation and the Indonesian military, surrender the body and soul of Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, the fourth President of Indonesia, to the soil of the motherland," said Yudhoyono.