CONAKRY, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - The funeral of a former Guinean catwalk model, whose body was found in the River Seine after going missing from her Paris houseboat, was held Friday March 14th in her native Conakry.

Katoucha - Photo : Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP

Hundreds attended the ceremony for Katoucha Diane, who worked with the biggest names in fashion at the height of her career in the 1980s including Yves Saint Laurent.

Her father Djibril Tamsir Niane, a writer and historian, led a cortege to the city's national cemetery after her body was removed from a Guinean hospital following its arrival from France on Wednesday.

Her father had earlier travelled to France on March 7 for a service attended by top model Naomi Campbell at the Grand Mosque in southeastern Paris.

"It's a great loss for Guinea, for whom Katoucha was a great ambassador for beauty," culture minister Braidy Aribot told AFP after the service.

Her family did not make any comment.

Katoucha Niane was found floating drowned in the river after a night out on February 1 with a companion.

Niane's autopsy found no signs of violence, but her family filed a court complaint in Paris alleging voluntary homicide. The alleged culprit was not named in the complaint.

Katoucha left the catwalk for good in 1994, but in recent years she made headlines as an outspoken campaigner against female genital mutilation, launching a foundation against the practice.