Funeral prayers of Ali Ayaz Fakhri offered

The body of Jamil Fakhri's son was brought to Lahore from New York.

LAHORE: The funeral prayers of Ali Ayaz Fakhri were offered at Ravi Road in Lahore on Thursday.

The body of Ali Ayaz Fakhri, the son of famous TV actor Jamil Fakhri, was shifted to Lahore Wednesday night. His body was brought from New York, where he was living for the last 10  years.

A large number of people and TV actors attended the funeral.

Ali Ayaz Fakhri had gone missing in the US some 22 months ago. Jamil Fakhri had made repeated efforts to move the ministry of overseas Pakistanis and the foreign ministry but claimed to have received little support.

Last week, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani informed Jamil Fakhri about the death of his son over telephone after receiving his DNA report. Haqqani, however, did not confirm whether Ali Ayaz was murdered or he had died as a result of an accident.

Ali Ayaz Fakhri, 32, was living in America for the last 10 years. He had a masters in business education and was working as a taxi driver. Ali, who was divorced, was the eldest among Fakhri’s four sons. Another son of the actor is settled in Canada while the other two live in Lahore.

Jamil Fakhri had criticised the foreign ministry for lack of cooperation in his efforts to recover his son. But the moment his message went on air, the government machinery swung into action in no time and even Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called the actor to assure support. The Pakistani embassy in the US subsequently confirmed the death of his son.