Members of the Pakistani community in Ireland yesterday held a funeral service "in absentia" to commemorate the slain leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Benazir Bhutto.
The short service, which followed Friday prayers at the Islamic Centre in Ongar, west Dublin, was addressed by the chief co-ordinator of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Ireland, Shaheen Ahmed.
After the event, Mr Ahmed said her death represented the "saddest day" for not only members of the party, but for all Pakistani people living in Ireland.
"The aim [ of the service] was to condemn the brutal and cowardly act which has been committed. We are mourning that and we are condemning the regime," he said. "Our message today is not only [ about] the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, it is the assassination of democracy in Pakistan.
"She was the most talented and bright political leader of the modern world. The loss of her is huge now in terms of the political process in Pakistan." Mr Ahmed said a protest was planned for 2pm on Monday outside the Pakistani embassy in Dublin.
"We are calling for the immediate removal of [ Gen] Musharraf. We feel that as long as Musharraf is there he can bring no good to the Pakistani people."
Hidayat Mirza, a former general secretary of the Association of Pakistanis in Ireland and a trustee of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland, was also among those present at yesterday's service.
He said more than 100 people attended the "sombre" ceremony, which included readings from the Koran.
"It's obligatory for a Muslim to pray for the departing soul and for her or him to be forgiven," he said. "The general feeling of the Pakistani community is that Benazir Bhutto was the victim of the political circumstances prevailing in Pakistan."