President Zardari departs for Lisbon to offer condolences on Aga Khan’s death

KAKARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari left for Lisbon, Portugal on Sunday (today) to express his condolences on the death of Prince Shah Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, who passed away earlier at the age of 88 in Lisbon.

According to a press release issued by the PPP Secretariat, the president will meet His Highness Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Agha Khan V, who was named the 50th hereditary Imam of Ismaili Muslims, to extend his condolences on the passing away of the late Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.

During the visit, the president will also meet Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The late Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, who died on Tuesday in Lisbon after nearly seven decades as the spiritual leader of the global Ismaili Muslim community, was buried in Aswan, Egypt on Sunday, according to the Ismaili Imamat.

After a funeral ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in the Portuguese capital on Saturday, which was attended by leaders of the community, Portuguese government members and foreign dignitaries, Aga Khan IV was laid to rest at a private burial ceremony in Aswan, Egypt on Sunday.

Known for his wealth and development work around the world through the Aga Khan Development Network, Prince Karim died in Lisbon, the seat of the Ismaili Imamat.

His son, Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini was named the 50th hereditary Imam, or spiritual leader, on Wednesday, according to his father’s will.

As Aga Khan – derived from Turkish and Persian words to mean commanding chief – he is believed by Ismailis to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad through the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter.

The world’s Ismaili community, a branch of Shi’ite Islam, comprises around 15 million people who live in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America.

Set up in 1967, the AKDN group of international development agencies employs 80,000 people helping to build schools and hospitals and providing electricity for millions of people in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia.

Aga Khan IV also kept up his family’s long tradition of thoroughbred racing and breeding. His stables and riders, wearing his emerald-green silk livery, enjoyed great successes at the top international derbies.