Sharon funeral highlights conflicting views

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By Crispian Balmer and Matt Spetalnick JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel paid homage to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the first of two funeral services being held on Monday for a man celebrated as a war hero at home but seen by many in the Arab world as a war criminal. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the somber ceremony in front of the Israeli parliament, Sharon's coffin draped in Israel's blue and white flag, bathed in winter sunshine. "We are accompanying to his final resting place today, a soldier, an exceptional soldier, a commander who knew how to win," said Israeli President Shimon Peres. Sharon, 85, died on Saturday after spending the last eight years of his life motionless in a hospital bed, pitched into a coma by a stroke and far from the public gaze.




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