INDONESIA HOTLINE

Gus Dur's body leaves for Jombang, thousands bid farewell


The body of former president Abdurrahman Wahid was carried to the Halim Perdana Kusuma airport in Jakarta from his resident in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, on Thursday morning to be flown to his hometown in Jombang, East Java.

Thousands of people packed his resident in Ciganjur and even lined up along the street to bid farewell to their beloved leader.

These people chanted prayers for Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, while the convoy of cars bringing Wahid's body left Ciganjur. They still chanted the prayer even after the convoy disappeared from their sight.

The Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization which Wahid chaired for years, said that the late statesman would be buried in the family grave at Tebu Ireng Cemetery in Jombang.

“That is Ansyari's cemetery. Gus Dur's grandfather is also buried there,” Zuhairi Misrowi told tempointeraktif.com.

Gus Dur had been treated in the intensive care unit of Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta in the past few days, and he died Wednesday evening. He was 69.