Police order ‘no crowds’ for shul gunman funeral
VTHE FUNERAL of the Texas synagogue terrorist took place in Blackburn last Friday morning under strict police conditions to limit numbers, the JC understands.
It was held in the UK after Pakistan reportedly refused to accept the body of gunman Malik Faisal Akram, over fears that he would be buried as a martyr.
Akram, 44, entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville near Dallas at 11am local time on January 15, taking a rabbi and three worshippers hostage.
Following a 10-hour standoff, he was shot dead by the FBI, with all four hostages escaping unharmed.
Around 70 mourners, mostly friends, neighbours and family members, watched as his casket was brought into the cemetery in his hometown just before 9am.
A photo of
Akram’s grave showed a burial mound festooned with flowers as mourners gathered nearby.
Funeral prayers for Akram were performed in a small hall in the Muslim section of the cemetery.
His emotional father was consoled by his two surviving sons and by his grandchildren, Akram’s teenage sons.
It is understood the police requested the funeral should not take place outside the local mosque over fears it would attract a large crowd.
Sources said that US authorities told the family to pay for the repatriation expenses of the body. It is not exactly known how much the family paid but one source claimed it was more than $7,000. Akram’s body arrived in London last Thursday and was driven to Blackburn. It was then kept at the mortuary by the Blackburn Muslim BurialSociety prior to the service.