Maldives FM attends slain ex-Japanese PM Abe's funeral

Maldivian foreign minister Abdulla Shahid on Tuesday attended the state funeral of slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The foreign minister represented Maldives on behalf of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as his special envoy, at the funeral service held in Tokyo Tuesday morning.

State foreign minister Ahmed Khaleel and the Maldivian ambassador in Japan Hassan Sobir also participated in the funeral service.

Japan bid farewell to Abe with a rare state funeral that divided the nation.

Some 4,000 mourners – including Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, and US Vice President Kamala Harris – attended Tuesday’s ceremony for Abe, who was gunned down on July 8 while delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

The event began at 2pm with the Japan Self-Defense Forces firing 19 shots in honour of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister as his wife, Akie Abe, carried his ashes into Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan hall.

A military band played the national anthem and soldiers dressed in white uniforms took Abe’s ashes and placed them on a pedestal decorated with yellow and white chrysanthemum flowers.

Attendants observed a moment of silence for Abe.

Outside, in a nearby park, thousands of Japanese people queued to offer floral tributes to the slain politician. Some reported waiting for up to three hours.

But the state funeral has also prompted protests in downtown Tokyo, with demonstrators criticising Abe for his legacy of divisive policies as well as the event’s $11.5m bill.

A recent poll conducted by the Mainichi newspaper shows that some 62 percent of respondents do not approve of a state funeral for Abe.

Revelations about ties between Abe, his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church have also spurred public outrage.