Foreign leaders and supporters attended Saturday the state funeral of Zimbabwe's longtime President Robert Mugabe, who passed away on September 6 aged 95.

Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years, from independence until he was ousted by the army in November 2017.

Incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa walked behind the casket that carried Mugabe's body as it was wheeled into the center of Harare's National Sports Stadium and placed on a podium decorated with flowers so that Zimbabweans could bid their farewells.

Senior army generals and Mugabe's wife and children followed, as a brass band played.

"Today, let us put aside our differences and come together as we remember the past and look to the future as one proud, independent and free nation," the president wrote on Twitter.

The remains of the former leader will be interred in a mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre in the capital Harare in about 30 days, Mugabe's nephew said on Friday.

The uncertainty had been fueled by reports that Mugabe had told his family in his last days that he wanted to be buried at his rural home in Zvimba, next to his mother.

'Go well'

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Special Envoy Gu Shengzu, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, to extend his condolences at Saturday's event.

A number of African heads of state — including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — also bid farewell to the former leader.

Banners at the stadium read "Hamba kahle, Gushungo, (go well, Gushungo)," a reference to his clan name, and "Pioneer of nationalist politics."

Born in 1924, Mugabe was feted as a key character in Africa's liberation era when he came to power in 1980 in one of the last African states to throw off white colonial rule.

China expresses condolences

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan last Thursday visited the Zimbabwean embassy in Beijing to mourn Mugabe's passing. Hailing Mugabe as an outstanding statesman and leader of the national liberation movement of Zimbabwe and Africa, Wang said the former president made remarkable contributions to the promotion of friendship and cooperation between China and Zimbabwe as well as between China and Africa.

China cherishes its traditional friendship with Zimbabwe, and is willing to work with the Zimbabwean government and people for the continual development of the China-Zimbabwe comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, Wang said.

China believes that under the leadership of Mnangagwa, Zimbabwean people will translate sorrow into strength to make greater achievements in realizing national stabilization and development, he added.