Aga Khan laid to rest in Egypt during private burial ceremony

Aswan (Egypt), AP: The Aga Khan IV was laid to rest on Sunday at a private ceremony in Aswan, Egypt. The death of Prince Karim the 49th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims was announced Tuesday by the Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community. His son, 53-year-old Rahim Al-Hussaini, has been named as the Aga Khan V, the spiritual leader of the world's millions of Ismaili Muslims, in according with his father's will.

On Saturday, a private funeral service took place at the Ismaili community center in Lisbon attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Spain's King Emeritus Juan Carlos and Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The Aga Khan is considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is treated as a head of state. The governor of Aswan welcomed Prince Karim's family at the southern Egyptian's provinces airport on Saturday. “When his will was opened, it was found that he had requested to be buried in Aswan near his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah, and his grandmother, Om Habiba,” said Maj. Gen. Ismail Kamal. Ismail imourers marched as bells rang during the burial ceremony in the country's southern Aswan province, as Prince Karim's body was taken in a van.

They carried his body, draped in a white shroud, and placed it on a yacht on the Nile River. Prince Karim, 88, was given the title of “His Highness” by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather, the Aga Khan III, unexpectedly made him heir to the family's 1,300-year dynasty. The late Aga Khan evolved over decades into a business magnate and a philanthropist.