NICOSIA (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, trade unionists, European communists and politicians and leaders from Cyprus’ breakaway Turkish Cypriot community were among those attending a funeral service for the country’s former president, Dimitris Christofias.

Hundreds of people thronged the Church of God’s Wisdom in Nicosia, the capital, on Tuesday to pay a final tribute to the Communist-rooted Christofias, who died at 72 on Friday.

The Soviet-educated Christofias served a single five-year term after being elected in 2008. His presidency was tarnished by Cyprus’ near-financial ruin, a deadly Iranian munitions blast and the failure to end the Mediterranean island nation’s ethnic division.

But in his eulogy, Communist-rooted AKEL party leader Andros Kyprianou praised Christofias for his sincerity and integrity, saying to applause that in the end, he was vindicated.

Pallbearers carry the coffin of the former Cyprus’ President Dimitris Christofias during his state funeral at the Orthodox Christian Church of the Lord’s Wisdom in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A woman mourns over the coffin of the former Cyprus’ President Dimitris Christofias during his state funeral at the Orthodox Christian Church of the Lord’s Wisdom in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 25, 2019. European communist and left-wing party heads and leaders from ethnically split Cyprus’ breakaway Turkish Cypriot community were among those attending a funeral service for the country’s former president Christofias. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Pallbearers carry the coffin of the former Cyprus’ President Dimitris Christofias during his state funeral at the Orthodox Christian Church of the Lord’s Wisdom in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)