State funeral held for Leka I

TIRANA, Dec. 3 – King Leka I Zogu of Albania’s royal throne was buried on Saturday in a ceremony attended by the country’s top leaders and that was broadcast live on national television.
Though a parliamentary republic, Albanian authorities held official ceremonies for the self-styled king at the Parliament building. They also declared Saturday a day of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast and a minute of silence held at noon.
Leka I, who returned home from exile to try to claim the throne himself, died last week Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 72.
Berisha honored Leka Zogu by referring to him with the royal title he had always wanted.
The Prime Minister declared Saturday a day of national mourning and said Albania “will respect King Leka I with all the attributes of a king not in office.”
Describing him as “one of the greatest personalities of (Albania’s) political history,” Berisha also questioned the result of a 1997 referendum that upheld the abolition of the monarchy. “The referendum was held under the flares of a communist rebellion and cannot be considered a closed issue,” he said during a Cabinet meeting.
He was the son of King Ahmet Zogu, who proclaimed himself Albania’s monarch in 1928 and ruled for 11 years during a time that many older Albanians now remember as prosperous and stable.
“Leka Zogu’s commitment to the democracy in Albania was never separate from the extraordinary attention to Kosovo’s fate,” said Lulzim Basha, Tirana Mayor, who held the official farewell speech.
“We have come here today … to honor, with full historic gratitude and national pride, the work of Leka Zogu, son of Ahmet Zogu, King of Albanians,” said Basha
Muslim, Bektashi, Catholic and Orthodox prayers were read by religious leaders.
He was buried next to his wife’s and mother’s graves at the public Sharra cemetery in a Tirana suburb.
“I, Prince Leka II, swear in front of the body of my father that I will follow the road of King Zogu, of King Leka I to be at the service of the nation, the homeland,” said Leka II, his only son.
No opposition leaders were present at the ceremony and some of them, like Erion Brace, an opposition lawmaker, said that Leka Zogu was never the country’s king.
His family was given back some of its old royal properties and granted diplomatic passports. Leka Zogu’s son has since served as an adviser to several Albanian governments. Today, a small royalist party is allied to the governing Democratic Party’s coalition of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
The government has pledged to bring home from Paris the late king’s remains, calling the monarch “one of the greatest, most distinguished personalities with a major contribution to the history of the Albanian nation.”
That could be done next year when Albania celebrates the 100th anniversary of its independence.
The royal family and their monarchist party has not denied they intend to return the ‘constitutional monarchy’ as well, as mentioned Tuesday by the leader of the political party Ekrem Spahia, also deputy defense minister.
Leka I Zogu is survived by his son, Leka II.