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.
