Tributes pour in after death of US senator John McCain

The death of United States Senator John McCain has prompted an outpouring of tributes to the Vietnam War hero who has been a dominant figure in US politics for decades.

McCain, a prisoner of war and six-term Arizona senator, had been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, discovered by his doctors in July 2017. He also had surgery for an intestinal infection in April of this year.

His family announced on Friday that he was discontinuing further cancer treatment.

He died the next day in his home state of Arizona. He was 81.

McCain was a prominent critic of President Donald Trump. His family has said he did not want Trump to attend his funeral service, where former presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama are expected to speak.

McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, the day McCain would have turned 82 years old. After that service, he will be taken to Washington on Thursday, and will lie in state in the Capitol on Friday, according to the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McCain will have a national memorial service at Washington’s National Cathedral on Saturday, according to the family statement. After that, he will be taken to Annapolis, Maryland, where he will be laid to rest.

Lying in state, according to the Architect of the Capitol, is an honour reserved for “government officials and military officers” and involves laying the coffin of the deceased in the Rotunda of the US Capitol, where the public can come and offer final respects.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reports from Washington, DC.