TEHRAN -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani served as a pallbearer for the coffin of Tetsu Nakamura, who was shot to death in eastern Afghanistan, at a Kabul airport on Saturday as he sent off the slain doctor's body for its return to Japan.
The coffin was covered in an Afghan national flag as it was carried to an airplane during the send-off ceremony, which was organized by the Afghanistan government for the 73-year-old doctor, a local representative of the nongovernmental organization Peshawar-kai. Nakamura's body was accompanied by his wife, Naoko, 66, and daughter Akiko, 39.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Ghani hailed Nakamura's contribution to his country's reconstruction through building wells and agricultural irrigation channels. "All Afghans will remember him as a brave man," he added.
The bereaved family met with Ghani at the presidential office the previous day. During the meeting, Akiko expressed her gratitude to the Afghan people, saying, "We greatly appreciate that [the people of Afghanistan] treated [my father] so well."
According to Peshawar-kai, Nakamura's body is scheduled to arrive in his hometown of Fukuoka on Monday, with a funeral service set for Wednesday.
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