Jonathan sworn-in as Nigeria's new President

Jonathan, who had been serving as acting president since early February following the illness of President Yar'Adua, was sworn-in by country's chief justice Katsina Alu.

Soon after taking over the reins of power in a country long plagued by military coups, the new President declared a week-long national mourning in honour of the dead leader whom he described as jewel on Nigeria's crown.

58-year-old Yar'Adua, who long had suffered from kidney ailments and was recently hospitalised in Saudi Arabia because of heart inflammation, died on Wednesday. He is survived by an aged mother, wife Turai Yar'Adua and nine children.

Yar'Adua, whose long illness had sparked off leadership crisis, died almost three months after Jonathan had assumed control of Nigeria as acting president less than a year away from the next Presidential elections.The new President will serve through next year's election where he is likely to be the leading contender.

An unwritten power-sharing agreement within Nigeria's ruling party calls for presidency to rotate between Nigeria's equally divided Muslims and Christians. Yar'Adua's was still in his first term in office.Yar'Adua was buried at sundown in his native state of Katsina in accordance with Muslim faith.

President Jonathan, who holds a doctorate degree in Zoology, was born on November 20, 1957 and was governor of Bayelsa state, in the Niger Delta region before assuming the position of vice president in 2007. During the swearing-in, he was accompanied by his wife Patience. After his swearing-in, he extolled the dead president as a person who had great vision for the country and also a personal friend.