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Litvinenko converted to Islam, father says
See more images from the funeralBillionaires, former KGB spies and Chechen rebels joined members of Alexander Litvinenkos family for his funeral yesterday at Highgate cemetery in London. What was meant to be a private, non-denominational service was interrupted by a Muslim imam who pushed his way to the front of the mourners to conduct prayers over the coffin. Litvinenkos father had claimed that his son had converted to Islam on his deathbed. His wife, Marina, restrained a number of burly Russian minders from intervening to stop the imam, pleading with them: Remember why we are here. She held on to the hand of her 12-year-son, Anatole, who stared straight ahead at the lead-lined, airtight coffin in which officials insisted Litvinenko was buried to avoid any health risks. The exiled Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, was among the pallbearers, together with the Chechen Foreign Minister, Akhmed Zakayev. Both Litvinenkos parents, Walter and Nina Belyavskaya, were at the graveside along with his first wife, Natalia, and a group of 50 family friends. Earlier it was revealed that Litvinenko had taken part in a citizenship ceremony in October using a false name, Edwin Carter. It is understood that Whitehall officials knew that he had changed his name for his own protection. Posted by: tipper 2006-12-07 |
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