MOSCOW, December 22 (Sputnik) — The issue of transporting the body of executed Russian national Akhlas Akhlaq has not yet been decided, and will be discussed upon the arrival of Akhlaq's mother, Svetlana, in Pakistan, the mother's friend told Sputnik News Agency on Monday.
"They said we needed to come to the consulate [in Pakistan] once we arrived… We are in the process of acquiring a visa at the moment. At the consulate we will discuss the transportation of the body," the mother's friend, Katerina, said.
On December 21, Akhlaq was executed in the northern Pakistani city of Faisalabad for attempting to assassinate the country's former president in 2003. The execution took place four days after the death penalty moratorium in the country was lifted on December 17 in the wake of the killing of more than 140 people, including 132 children, by the Taliban militants in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
21 December 2014, 03:09 GMT
On Sunday, the Russian consul told RIA Novosti, citing Akhlaq's lawyer, that the execution had been delayed until Monday when Akhlaq's mother was expected to arrive in Pakistan.
Katerina, the mother's friend, added that the issue of transferring the body to Russia had been postponed until the moment when Akhlaq's mother arrived in Islamabad and met with the father of the executed Russian national.
According to Katerina, Svetlana was going to travel to Pakistan on Monday evening, after all the visa procedures were completed.
Akhlaq's father said earlier that he wanted his son to be buried in Russia.
