The world paid its tribute Sunday to the former president of Georgia and foreign minister of Soviet Union Eduard Shevardnadze, who was instrumental in ending the cold war by helping bring down Germany's Berlin Wall.

He was 86.

Shevardnadze, who died on Monday last week due to a long illness, was laid to rest in Tbilisi, Georgia on 13 July after a funeral service attended by former diplomats from several countries around the world.

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Shevardnadze was foreign minister of the Soviet Union when he helped topple the Berlin Wall, a barrier that was constructed by the then German Democratic Republic to cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and East Berlin.

The bringing down of the Berlin Wall had led to the end of the cold war.

Former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and his wife Barbara and former US Secretary of State James Baker were among the former diplomats and government leaders that attended the funeral service in Tbilisi.

Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili also attended the funeral. Also in attendance were Shevardnadze's only daughter Manana and granddaughter Sophie. His wife died in 2004.

Shevardnadze's coffin was carried by a motorcade that drove on the street in Tbilisi towards the Holy Trinity Cathedral on Sunday prior to the funeral service.

When he was forced into retirement from politics in 2003, Shevardnadze kept a low profile and spent more time with his ailing wife.  He never participated in any political discussions but joined in criticizing Russia during its short war with Georgia.

TagsEduard Shevardnadze, Berlin Wall, Cold War, former Georgia President