The two-day State funeral for Le Kha Phieu, former Party General Secretary of the Communist Party of Central Committee, started at 8:00 am Friday morning at the National Funeral Hall at No. 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street in Hanoi.

State funeral for Le Kha Phieu, former Party General Secretary of the Communist Party of Central Committee, starts at 8:00 am on August 14 in Hanoi.

Organizations and individuals can pay last respects to the former Party leader until 12:00 pm on Saturday.

High-ranking leaders are to pay respects to former Party General Secretary Le Khai Phieu. Photo: VGP

The memorial service is scheduled to take place at the National Funeral Hall at 00:30 pm on Saturday while the burial ceremony will be held at 2:00 pm the same day at Ha Noi’s Mai Dich Cemetery.

At the same time, respect-paying ceremony and memorial service will also be held at Thong Nhat (Reunification) Conference Hall in Ho Chi Minh City and the Conference Hall of the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa Province, the hometown of former Party chief Le Kha Phieu.

National broadcaster Viet Nam Television (VTV) and national Radio, the Voice of Viet Nam, will telecast the funeral ceremonies in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Thanh Hoa Province.

During the two-day State funeral, national flags will be flown at half-mask at Government buildings and public places, and recreational and entertainment activities are suspended.

Comrade Le Kha Phieu was born on December 27, 1931 in Dong Khe Commune, Dong Son District, Thanh Hoa Province, residing at No. 7/36/C1 Ly Nam De Street, Cua Dong Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi.

He started to join revolutionary activities in 1947 and became a Party member on June 19, 1949.

He was member of the Party Central Committee of the 7th and 8th tenures; member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat of the 7th tenure; Politburo member of the Party Central Committee of the7th and 8th tenures; General Secretary of the Party Central Committee from December 1997 to April 2001; and Deputy to the National Assembly of the 9th and 10th tenures.

After more than 70 years of revolutionary activities, Comrade Le Kha Phieu had made made great contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He had been awarded with a Gold Star Order, an Insignia of 70-year Party membership, and many other noble orders and medals.