RAWALPINDI, Aug 23 Former defence secretary Lt-Gen (retired) Iftikhar Ali Khan was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Chakri on Sunday.

Gen Khan, who died of cardiac arrest on Saturday, was the elder brother of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

His funeral prayers were held at 11am in Chakri and were attended by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid, Secretary Defense Syed Athar Ali, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N Joint Secretary Raja Zafarul Haq, Chaudhry Tanveer Ali Khan, PML-N MNAs, including Zafar Iqbal Jhagra and Khwaja Asif Mehmood, MPAs and Baitul Mal Managing Director Zamurad Khan.

Senior officers of the armed forces, religious scholars, local PML-N leadership, notables of the locality and people belonged to various walks of life were also present.

Rawalpindi Station Commander Brig Zaman Khan, on behalf of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, laid a floral wreath on the grave of the deceased.

PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif flanked by Senator Pervaiz Rasheed reached the burial site after the funeral prayers and expressed grief over the death of Gen Khan, who also served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), Pakistan Army.

He was appointed as defense secretary in 1997 and relinquished the office in 1999.