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By Ismail Sameem and Ahmad Nadeem

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai led thousands of mourners under heavy security on Wednesday to the funeral of his influential brother whose assassination the previous day has left a power vacuum in the volatile southern province of Kandahar.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, one of the most powerful and controversial men in southern Afghanistan, was killed by a trusted family security guard at his home in Kandahar city.

The killing cast a pall over Kandahar, which has been a focus of violence in recent months as the Taliban came under pressure in surrounding districts from a wave of extra troops ordered in by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009.

Thousands of people gathered outside the provincial governor's compound where Ahmad Wali's body was kept with many piling onto waiting buses for the funeral procession to the family village of Karz, some 20 km away.

Security forces formed a tight perimeter around the compound and helicopters could be seen circling overhead.

Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot dead by Sardar Mohammad, a senior member of the Karzai family's security team in Kandahar who had known his victim for at least a decade. Mohammad was shot dead by Karzai's bodyguards moments after he opened fire.

Ahmad Wali Karzai's power came not from his position as head of the provincial council -- a largely consultative role which normally carries limited influence -- but from his tribal and family connections and the fortune he accumulated.

He has been accused of amassing a fortune from the drugs trade, intimidating rivals and having links to the CIA -- charges he strongly denied and which the Afghan president says have never been proven.   Continued...