Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of Vietnam's most prominent dissident, retired Lieutenant-General Tran Do.

Do, a decorated war veteran and former head of the ruling Communist Party's ideology and culture department, died on Friday aged 78.

Tran Do held senior positions for 30 years before calling for reforms

He had been in hospital for more than a month with acute diabetes and other ailments.

But his death was only acknowledged officially four days later with identical obituaries in two state-run newspapers that made no mention of his calls for political reform, including multi-party elections.

Hundreds of friends, former colleagues and supporters attended the ceremony, held at the government's official funeral building.

Dozens of flower wreaths lined the front wall, including ones sent by Vietnam's most famous general, Vo Nguyen Giap, and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An.

A eulogy was read by Vu Mao, chairman of the National Assembly secretariat, who said Do's contribution to the Communist Party was acknowledged by Vietnam's people and leaders.

"However, in the last part of his life he made some mistakes," he added.

Do's son said he rejected the eulogy, prompting applause from among the former general's supporters.

Disillusionment

Do held many senior government and party positions over a career spanning 30 years before becoming disillusioned by the consequences of the party's monopoly on power.

He began speaking out in 1997 against corruption, abuse of power, and restrictions on freedom, and was expelled from the party in 1999 and placed under surveillance.

In January, the Ministry of Culture and Information ordered police and cultural inspectors to confiscate and destroy books written by Do and several other prominent dissidents.

Correspondents say Do's calls for reform reflected disappointment about the gap between the country's reality and the goals of the communist revolution and wars against France and the United States he had helped fight.