NICOSIA, Cyprus (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.