Mufti Jafar Ponchayev died in St. Petersburg

Mufti Jafar Ponchayev, the Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of

Muslims of St. Petersburg and North-Western Russia, died today in

St. Petersburg.

The death of the mufti was confirmed by his son Ravil Ponchayev,

imam of a mosque in St. Petersburg, RIA Novosti reports the

representative of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims, mufti

Albir Krganov, as saying.

The funeral of the Muslim spiritual leader may be held on Friday.

"He was a very distinguished man, one of the strongest pillars

of the spiritual administration," Krganov said, describing the

personality of Jafar Ponchayev.