Thousands of Bosnian Muslims have attended the funeral of their former leader Alija Izetbegovic. He was buried with state honors in Sarajevo. He died on Sunday at the age of 78 following a long period of heart illness. Bosnian Muslims see him as a father of the nation who led them in their darkest hour. He was president during the bloody war of 1992 to 1995 and signed the Dayton accord that ended the conflict. Fittingly, then, he was laid to rest at the Kovaci cemetery, where Muslim soldiers who fell in that war are buried. Dozens of countries have sent representatives, and Muslims from neighboring Croatia and Slovenia have arrived in busloads to pay their respects. Paddy Ashdown, the UN high representative in Bosnia and a key figure in the run-up to Dayton, paid homage to Izetbegovic's vision for the country: "There are men and women of goodwill in Bosnia and Herzegovina today who share that courage and who genuinely want to champion the common good." But Bosnian Serbs have little to mourn today. Many regard Izetbegovic as a war criminal who should have ended up at the Hague tribunal. They are unlikely to be impressed by the timing of a statement from the Hague saying Izetbegovic had been under investigation for war crimes, but that his death means all inquiries are off. And in a sign of the deep divisions that still blight Bosnia, the Serbs, Muslims and Croats who run the country could not agree to declare a national day of mourning for Izetbegovic. **Izetbegovic: A Controversial Character*** A father of the nation for some - a Muslim fundamentalist responsible for war-time atrocities for others. Bosnia's Serb Republic, which accused the former leader of being behind atrocities committed against Serbs and Croats, provided the UN court with a thick dossier on his alleged crimes in 2001. A devout Muslim, Izetbegovic headed the government as Muslims, Serbs and Croats were involved in Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War Two. Along with Croatian and Yugoslav Presidents Franjo Tudjman and Slobodan Milosevic, Izetbegovic signed the 1995 Dayton accord which put an end to the conflict, leaving the country divided between the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Bosnian Army generals carry the coffin of former Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic, draped in the Bosnian flag, at a ceremony held in front of the Bosnian parliament building in Sarajevo, October 22, 2003. (REUTERS/Matko Biljak)