Ghana to hold funeral for late president August 10

Ghana will hold a state funeral service and burial for late president John Atta Mills on August 10 after his death this week following an illness, the government announced on Friday.

The funeral "will take place in Accra from Wednesday, August 8 to Friday, August 10", a statement said. "The funeral service and burial will be on Friday, August 10. Further details will be announced later."

Mills died on Tuesday, five months ahead of presidential elections in which he was to seek re-election. No official cause was given, but he was said to have been suffering from throat cancer.

His body was expected to lie in state ahead of the burial.

John Dramani Mahama, who had been vice president, was sworn in to serve out the remainder of Mills' term, as dictated by the West African nation's constitution.

Presidential elections are to be held in December in the country seen as a bastion of democracy in the often turbulent region.