FUKUOKA

Part of cremated remains of Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura, who was shot dead in Afghanistan last week, will be buried in the country based on his intention expressed before his death, a person close to him said Thursday.

At a press conference in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka, Zia-Ur-Rahman, a 64-year-old Afghani doctor and deputy representative in Afghanistan of Japanese humanitarian aid group Peshawar-kai, quoted Nakamura as saying while he was alive that he hoped to be buried in the Gamberi area in Afghanistan if he died.

Bereaved relatives of Nakamura have agreed to the burial plan, according to the Afghani doctor, who was among the numerous participants at the funeral for the slain doctor, held in Fukuoka on Wednesday.

Nakamura, 73, Peshawar-kai's representative in Afghanistan, was shot dead by an armed group on Dec. 4 while heading by car to an irrigation canal construction site from Jalalabad, the capital of the province of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan. Five others aboard the car, including its driver, were also killed in the shooting.

According to Peshawar-kai, Gamberi used to be a desert area, but now trees have been planted there thanks to a project by the group, and there is a memorial park in the area. The Afghani doctor, who has worked with Nakamura for more than 20 years, said that members of the group are all students of the Nakamura school, adding that they share his philosophy and want to continue the group's support projects in Afghanistan.

Masaru Murakami, head of Peshawar-kai, will succeed Nakamura as the local representative and restart in stages suspended medical services and other projects including the construction of irrigation channels.

The group plans to pay compensation to relatives of the driver and others killed with Nakamura in the attack.

Jiji Press