15 January 2005	Saturday	04 Zilhaj 1425

GILGIT, Jan 14: Prominent religious leader, Agha Ziauddin Rizvi, who succumbed to his injuries in Rawalpindi on Thursday, was laid to rest here on Friday amid tight security.

His funeral prayers were held at Imamia mosque at 10pm which were attended by about 5,000 people. Both Agha Rizvi and his bodyguard Tanvir Hussain were later buried within the premises of the mosque.

Earlier, the bodies of the late leader and his guard arrived here at 4.15pm by a helicopter amid tight security. No break in the curfew was given by the authorities on the occasion. However, a large number of people managed to reach the Imamia mosque.

Sources said that over 11,000 people, from Nagar and Hunza, had assembled in Danyore on the outskirts of the city but security forces did not allow them to attend the funeral prayers.

They later dispersed peacefully when a religious leader, Shaikh Mirza Ali, asked them to remain calm and peaceful. The death of Agha Rizvi in an attack also affected the Skardu district where the authorities imposed curfew to meet any untoward incidents.

Personnel of a law-enforcement agency shot dead a man, Kazim Hussain, 30, at Yadgar Chowk in Skardu for violating curfew restrictions. br>