A hearse takes the remains of Alexander Litvinenko to his last resting place in the Highgate Cemetery, London, December 7, 2006.
Photo: AP
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Alexander Litvinenko in the Muslim Afterworld
Former FSB officer and political emigrant Alexander Litvinenko was buried in London yesterday. A Muslim funeral service was held in the morning. He converted to Islam on his deathbed. His funeral was initially scheduled for Friday, but it was unexpectedly moved up a day by British authorities. Among those present at the funeral were his parents Valter and Nina, his stepbrother Maxim and his children from his first marriage Alexander, 24, and Sonya, 14, and his former wife Tatyana. At noon, Christian and Muslim mourners split up for services at their respective houses of worship. The Muslims, among whom were about 15 members of the Chechen diaspora, gathered at the London Central Mosque.
Litvinenko's coffin was not at any of the services. Ichkerian Foreign Minister Akhmed Zakaev, who was also at the funeral, explained that “when Polonium-210 was discovered in the body of the deceased, he was placed in a special sarcophagus and taken to a secret Defense Ministry facility.” From there it would be taken to the cemetery under guard.
Litvinenko was buried in Highgate Cemetery. The cemetery, the resting place of Karl Marx and Bram Stoker, has log been closed to all but burials in family mausoleums, but an exception was made for Litvinenko. The mourners left for the cemetery after the religious services. They were joined there by dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, former KGB officer and defector Oleg Gordievsky and businessman Boris Berezovsky. The funeral party was allowed to approach the burial site only an hour after the coffin was delivered. About 30 journalists and photographers were also present, but they were not admitted to the cemetery itself. Three police helicopters circled overhead as two mullahs read prayers. After that, Litvinenko's father spoke at the graveside, talking about his son's keen sense of justice and his decision to leave Russia.
After a memorial service in a cemetery building, at which others close to the decease spoke, Valter Litvinenko was accompanied by the Chechen members of the funeral party to the home of Zakaev, in accordance with Muslim tradition, and the others gathered at a restaurant.
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All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 08, 2006
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