Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + Hugo Chavez lies in state in open casket + Syrian rebels capture 21 UN peacekeepers + Frustration mounts over Kenya vote count Venezuela-politics-Chavez,newseries-WRAP CARACAS The body of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lies in state in a half-open casket at a Caracas military academy after throngs of weeping supporters swarm the streets of the capital to bid farewell.

Duty Editor: John Weaver Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + Hugo Chavez lies in state with open casket + Syrian rebels seize 21 UN peacekeepers in Golan + EU slaps Microsoft with fine over web browser + Frustration grows over Kenya vote count delays Venezuela-politics-Chavez,6thlead-WRAP CARACAS

The coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was taken Wednesday to a military academy where he will lie in state for three days, as throngs of weeping supporters swarmed Caracas streets to bid farewell. Hundreds of thousands waved flags and chanted "Chavez lives" as his hearse crawled across the capital in a seven-hour trip from the hospital where he died to the academy he once called his second home.

The flag-draped coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was borne through throngs of weeping supporters on Wednesday as a nation bade farewell to the firebrand leftist who led them for 14 years. His mother Elena wept over his wooden casket as a band played the national anthem outside his military hospital. Presidential guards with red berets then placed his remains on a black hearse which took him to lie in state.