Haile Selassie funeral to be held 25 years late

An Ethiopian royalist groupplans to hold the official funeral of the late Emperor Haile Selassie on 2 November - a quarter of a century after his death and on the 70th anniversary of his coronation.

An Ethiopian royalist groupplans to hold the official funeral of the late Emperor Haile Selassie on 2 November - a quarter of a century after his death and on the 70th anniversary of his coronation.

The Emperor Haile Selassie I Foundation said yesterday it needed about $1m (£670,000) to organise the reburial ceremony of the late emperor, and called on all Ethiopians at home and abroad to contribute.

"The foundation has decided that the emperor's funeral must be an all-Ethiopian affair and therefore will not accept any money from foreign governments and organisations," it said. The emperor was deposed in 1974. His death was officially announced on 27 August 1975 - of "circulatory failure" - but he was believed to have been murdered days earlier. (Reuters)