AFP - Guinea-Bissau held Sunday a state funeral for its army chief, General Batista Tagme Na Waie, a week after he was killed in a bomb blast that led to turmoil in which the president was assassinated.
  
Defence Minister Artur Silva warned that the "cowardly and disgraceful attack" must not divide the country.
  
"This death brought on by hate is a tough and terrible blow to the armed forces, carried out by invisible hands that are trying to divide us," said Silva.
  
Alluding to the subsequent killing of President Joao Bernardo Vieira, he added: "We can only see in these events an attempt to leave the state without leadership."
  
In a speech Silva called the slain general a "freedom fighter... and committed citizen who sought to take Guinea-Bissau out of the international limelight. He will enter the heroes' pantheon."
  
Guinea-Bissau remains tense after the bloody events a week ago. Within hours of the general's death a group of soldiers beat up and then assassinated Vieira in an apparent reprisal attack.
  
The general was buried at the municipal cemetery, near to where the slain president will be laid to rest on Tuesday.
  
People lined the route as the funeral procession made its way to the municipal cemetery and some in the crowd paid tribute to the fallen general.
  
"He was a hero of the war for independence," said Ricardo, a 25-year-old electrician.
  
Since the two killings, the military has pledged its allegiance to the constitutional democracy, easing initial fears of a coup d'etat.
  
Nobody has identified those responsible for either of the successive assassinations.
  
Parliamentary speaker Raimundo Pereira was sworn into office as interim head of state the day after Vieira died, with a brief to hold elections within 60 days.
  
His swift inauguration was defended by the authorities and the west African regional economic community ECOWAS, whose commission chief Mohamed Ibn Chambas stressed the need to keep democracy alive after the conflict at the top, which initially roused fears of a latest military coup.
  
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony that won independence in 1974, is among the world's poorest nations and has become a major hub for traffickers smuggling cocaine between South America and Europe.
  
The defence minister had pledged that the government would continue its fight against "disturbers, drug trafficking and banditry".
  
Former president Henrique Rosa said Sunday that organising presidential elections would be a priority after the funerals have been held.
  
Asked in an interview with AFP whether he would be a candidate, he said: "No decision has been made. It depends in the support I can get from the people."
  
Rosa was president between 2003 and 2005.
  
He called the two slain leaders veterans in the liberation of Guinea-Bissau who lately played an important role in the country. "They were Guinea-Bissau's strongmen."