Dhaka, 30 Dec

The funeral of Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia will be held on Wednesday and she will be buried with full state honours beside her husband, late president Ziaur Rahman, the interim government said on Tuesday.

Zia, the longtime chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a three-time prime minister, died earlier in the day in Dhaka after a prolonged illness. She was 80.

Her funeral will be held on Wednesday after Zohr prayers at Parliament's South Plaza and the adjoining Manik Mia Avenue, Law Advisor Asif Nazrul said.

She will later be laid to rest with full state honours beside the grave of her husband, former president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, at Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka, Nazrul told reporters after a special meeting of the interim government's Advisory Council at the state guest house Jamuna.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir attended the meeting as a special invitee.

Foreign dignitaries including Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend Zia's funeral.

Jaishankar will represent the government and people of India at the funeral, for which he will travel to Dhaka on Wednesday, an official statement said.

Quoting a Pakistan High Commission official in Dhaka, state-run BSS news agency reported, “We have the confirmation that our Deputy Prime Minister will come here (Dhaka) and join the Janaza.”

  Earlier in a televised address to the nation, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day state mourning and a one-day general holiday.

“At the death of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, I declare three days of state mourning and a one-day general holiday tomorrow on the day of her Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayers),” he said.

Yunus urged people to maintain discipline and order during the funeral prayers and the observance of mourning across the country.

“I know that all of you are deeply saddened at this time. I hope that you will show patience during this time of mourning and cooperate with all those concerned who are involved in observing the formalities, including her Namaz-e-Janaza,” he said.

During the mourning period, the national flag will be flown at half-mast at all government, semi-government and autonomous institutions, educational institutions and on all government and private buildings across the country, as well as at Bangladesh missions abroad.

The meeting also decided that special prayers and supplications would be organised in mosques across the country on Wednesday for the eternal peace of Zia, with similar prayers to be held at places of worship of other faiths.

Condolence books will be opened at the Bangladesh missions abroad.

Yunus said the government will provide all kinds of cooperation regarding Zia's burial and funeral.