The Latest: Bahrain's foreign minister tweets Peres tribute
JERUSALEM (AP) - The Latest on funeral preparations and a nation in mourning at the death of Israel's ninth President, Shimon Peres (all times local):
10:30 a.m.
The foreign minister of Bahrain has issued a tribute to Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres, a rarity for an Arab leader.
Khalid al-Khalifa tweets Thursday, "Rest in peace President Shimon Peres, a man of war and a man of the still elusive peace in the Middle East."
Although Peres is hailed as a man of peace, Arab leaders have greeted his death mostly with silence. The hostility is colored by Peres' role in building his country's defense arsenal, supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and waging war in Lebanon.
Still, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has lauded Peres for reaching a "peace of the brave" with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Israel's foreign ministry says an adviser to Morocco's king will attend Peres' funeral.
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9:00 a.m.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin are laying wreaths on the casket of Shimon Peres in the plaza of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
Peres died early Wednesday of complications following a stroke. He was 93.
His casket, draped in a blue and white Israeli flag, will remain at the Knesset throughout Thursday for Israelis to pay their respects.
Scores of world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will attend the funeral Friday in Jerusalem.
Over his seven-decade political career, Peres held nearly every post in Israel's government, including two terms as prime minister. He transformed from a hawk to a Nobel Prize-winning advocate of reconciliation with Palestinians. As Israel's president, he cultivated admiration for his youthful optimism.
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8:45 a.m.
The body of Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres is lying in state in the plaza of the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
Peres died Wednesday from complications following a stroke. He was 93.
Israelis will pay their respects throughout Thursday.
President Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and French President Francois Hollande are among scores of world leaders who will attend the funeral in the country's national cemetery in Jerusalem Friday. It is expected to be the largest such gathering in Israel since the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.
Peres served twice as Israel's prime minister. Over his seven-decade political career, he transformed from a hawk to a Nobel Prize-winning advocate of reconciliation with Palestinians. As Israel's president, he cultivated admiration for his youthful optimism.