DUSHANBE, December 22, Asia-Plus - President Emomali Rahmonov will head the Tajik delegation at the funeral of the late Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov Sunday, presidential press service reported.  

Niyazov''s funeral will take place on the morning of December 24 in the presidential palace.  He will then be taken to a mausoleum, which has already been built in his home village, Kipchak.

Following a decision by the Turkmen Security Council, the mourning period in the country will continue until December 28.

Niyazov, who was declared president-for-life in the Central Asian ex-Soviet republic, passed away at the age of 66 after a cardiac arrest at 1:10 a.m. local time (8:10 p.m. GMT Wednesday), following several years of heart trouble.