Tens of thousands of mourners have attended the funeral of a Pakistani student who died in a German jail while awaiting trial for the attempted murder of a newspaper editor.

Amer Cheema, 28, died in custody 10 days ago after being arrested in March on charges of attempting to kill the editor of Die Welt for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad () first published in Denmark last year.

An adviser to the chief minister of Punjab province laid a wreath on the coffin when it arrived in Lahore on Saturday morning, before it was flown in a helicopter 64km (40 miles) north to the family village in Saroki.

Islamic parties opposed to Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, have sought to make political capital from the death of Cheema, depicting him as a martyr for defending Muslim honour.

Up to 30,000 mourners, congregated in Saroki.

The coffin's arrival was greeted with chants of "Get Amir's killers" and "Musharraf go", witnesses said.

German justice officials said last week the student had hung himself using his clothes.

But Farid Piracha, a lawmaker from the Jamaat-i-Islami party who first raised the issue in the National Assembly over a week ago, said at the funeral that Cheema had been killed.

"The killing of Cheema was a barbaric act. He was killed by torture," Piracha said.

Fiery protests

Liaquat Baloch, another lawmaker, called for an independent investigation and said any German officials found culpable should be tried under Pakistani law.

PHOTO CAPTION

Activists of a religious student group burn a German flag as they chant slogans during an anti Germany rally on the death of a Pakistani student in a Berlin jail, Thursday, May 11, 2006 in Multan, Pakistan. (AP)