Country meets mistakenly shot Brazilian

The Brazilian shot by the British police officers arrived Thursday in his Brazilian hometown lifeless in a shiny box. The emigrant electrician was mistaken for a terror suspect.

Jean Charles de Menezes' coffin was driven into Gonzaga on a fire truck leading a procession of about 100 cars. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets.

It was the last leg of a long journey which began on a commercial flight from London to Sao Paulo.

A wake will be held at a local church ahead of the funeral. Despite angry banners reading "We want justice" and "Jean, martyr of British terrorism", a local police officer, Rogerio de Souza, described the atmosphere as "peaceful".

"We are not expecting any trouble of any angry anti-British demonstrations," he was quoted as saying by BBC.

As the body arrived in Sao Paulo, Manoel Gomes Pereira, a diplomat who co-ordinates work with Brazilians living abroad, said: "We understand England's concern with the (terror) attacks, but we do not accept that that concern should be allowed to kill innocent people." He said the victim's family, with the support of the Foreign Ministry, was discussing the issue of compensation for the loss of their son, News24 reports.

De Menezes, who arrived in Britain on March 13 2002, was shot eight times - seven bullets direct to the head - after police followed him from Tulse Hill in south London.

He was gunned down last Friday as he fled from police at Stockwell subway station in south London as they hunted for four suspected would-be suicide bombers following failed bombing attacks the previous day.

In Britain's worst terror strikes July 7 56 people were killed including four suicide bombers.