Saudi Arabia buries King Fahd in humble ceremony<\/p>\n
Agencies, Riyadh, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Muslim world leaders joined ordinary Saudis on Tuesday to bid
\nfarewell to King Fahd at an austere funeral ceremony for the man
\nwho ruled the oil powerhouse for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the strict Muslim traditions of this Gulf Arab
\nstate, Fahd was buried in an unmarked grave at the Al-Od public
\ncemetery in Riyadh after brief prayers at the Imam Turki bin
\nAbdullah mosque<\/p>\n
His body, draped in a brown robe, was carried into the mosque
\non a wooden stretcher on the shoulders of members of the ruling
\nal-Saud family.<\/p>\n
Mourners were led by Fahd's half-brother and successor King
\nAbdullah, de facto ruler for a decade, and powerful Defense
\nMinister Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the new crown prince of the
\nultra-conservative Gulf kingdom.<\/p>\n
The funeral was the final act in a 23-year reign in which Fahd
\nsteered the oil-rich kingdom through turbulent decades rocked by
\nwars and Islamist violence but in the last years was forced by
\nill health to hand over most powers to Abdullah.<\/p>\n
The world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, sent a
\nhigh level government delegation led by Indonesian Vice President
\nJusuf Kalla (not Alwi Shihab as earlier reported) to Riyadh on
\nTuesday to attend the funeral of King Fahd.<\/p>\n
The delegation, including Coordinating Minister for People's
\nWelfare Alwi Shihab, Minister of Religious Affairs M. Maftuh
\nBasyuni and a number of Muslim leaders, is expected to stay in
\nSaudi until Thursday.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent the delegation \"to pay
\nIndonesia's last respects\" to the Saudi king, who led the world's
\nleading oil-producing country since 1982.<\/p>\n
The President praised King Fahd for being \"a gentle leader, a
\ngreat statesman who worked hard to deliver progress, prosperity
\nand justice to his people and a force for peace in the region\",
\npresidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told the Post on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing the close ties Fahd forged with the Western world,
\nFrench President Jacques Chirac and British heir to the throne
\nPrince Charles were due in Riyadh to pay their last respects.
\nJapanese Crown Prince Naruhito was also to attend.<\/p>\n
UN chief Kofi Annan paid tribute to a veteran statesman who
\nhad attended the world body's inaugural meeting in 1945, while
\nU.S. President George W. Bush telephoned King Abdullah and
\noffered his congratulations.<\/p>\n
Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
\nJordanian King Abdullah II and a host of other leaders from the
\nMuslim world attended the funeral of a man they have hailed as a
\ngreat Arab leader.<\/p>\n
The simple and austere funeral ceremony was held under tight
\nsecurity at the mosque in the center of the capital.<\/p>\n
\"Security forces will enforce tight measures along the routes
\nwhich the convoys of dignitaries will take and at the location of
\nthe funeral ceremony,\" Gen. Mansur al-Turki told AFP.<\/p>\n
The late monarch, who carried the title of \"custodian of the
\ntwo holy mosques\" in Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites, was
\nlaid to rest in line with traditions stemming from the strict
\nWahhabi doctrine of Islamic law which is predominant in Saudi
\nArabia.<\/p>\n
Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf said \"King Fahd
\nwas a great leader of the Muslim world... He played an active
\nrole in the emancipation and betterment of the Muslim\" nation.<\/p>\n
Afghan President Hamid Karzai praised Fahd for supporting the
\n\"jihad\" (holy war) against his country's 1979-1989 Soviet
\noccupation.<\/p>",
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