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Niyazov laid to rest

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Turkmenistan's long-time ruler Saparmurat Niyazov was buried on Sunday in an elaborate funeral ceremony attended by foreign leaders and throngs of mourners. Niyazov, who died on Thursday from heart attack at the age of 66, was laid to rest in an ornate family mausoleum in his native village Kipchak on the grounds of Central Asia's biggest mosque he built two years ago at a cost of over $100 million. As Niyazov started on his last journey from the capital Ashgabat to Kipchak, thousands of mourners lined the road and fighter jets flew overhead. Earlier on Sunday, Niyazov's body lay in state for several hours in the huge presidential palace in Ashgabat as foreign delegations and Turkmen people filed past. Delegations from 40 countries and international organisations paid their last respects. Foreign dignitaries included Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. India was represented by Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz.

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