Doha (Web Desk/Agencies): Funeral prayer for slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was held in Qatar’s capital on Friday with additional commemorations taking place in Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Mourners at the ceremony in Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the Gulf emirate’s largest, just north of the capital Doha included Khaled Meshaal, who is tipped to be the new Hamas leader.
Other senior Hamas officials and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani also attended.
Mourners lined up for funeral prayers inside the mosque while others prayed on mats outside in temperatures that reached 44 degree Celsius.
Haniyeh’s coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag, was carried across the mosque past hundreds of people along with the coffin of his bodyguard, who was killed in the same attack in Tehran on Wednesday.
He will be buried in a cemetery in the city of Lusail, north of Doha.
Turkey and Pakistan announced a day of mourning today to honour Haniyeh, while Hamas called for a “day of furious rage”.
Many Doha mourners were dressed in crisp white traditional robes, others in street clothes. But most wore scarves that combined the Palestinian flag with a checkered keffiyeh pattern and the message in English: “Free Palestine”.
Doha traffic police and Qatar’s internal security forces monitored all approaches and police lined highway embankments adjoining the mosque grounds.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were among the officials due at the funeral.
Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a missile that hit him directly in a state guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told a news conference, quoting witnesses who were with him.
Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel of carrying out the killing and have pledged to retaliate against their foe.
Haniyeh’s killing, which Hamas, Iran, and others have attributed to Israel, occurred shortly after Israeli forces struck a southern suburb of Beirut, resulting in the death of Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hezbollah. Israel has claimed responsibility for this attack.