The Austrian government on Saturday held a state funeral for Kurt Waldheim, former UN Chief and Austrian president, who died of heart failure on June 14 at the age of 88.

Chinee diplomats in Vienna, including Tang Guoqiang, Chinese ambassador to the United Nations' Vienna Office, and Chinese ambassador to Austria Lu Yonghua, attended the funeral.

Respecting Waldheim's last wish, the Austrian government did not invite foreign dignitaries to attend the funeral.

Speaking at the ceremony at St. Stephan's Cathedral, Austrian President Heinz Fischer praised Waldheim's contribution to the development of Austria and the human beings, saying that as an Austrian diplomat, former foreign minister and president, he served his best for the country.

Fischer added that as former secretary-general of the United Nations, Waldheim dedicated himself to the world body during the most difficult time of the world political history.

"He deserves his lifetime to be seen as a whole," he said.

Waldheim, who was born on Dec. 21, 1918, in St. Andrae-Woerdern, a village near Vienna, served as Austria's foreign minister from 1968 to 1970, the UN secretary-general from 1972 to 1981, and the Austrian president from 1986 to 1992.

Due to his Nazi past in World War II, Waldheim became a controversial politician in Austria.

Source: Xinhua