Former General Secretary Lê Khả Phiêu is laid in state at the National Funeral Hall, No. 5 Trần Thánh Tông Street, Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A respect-paying ceremony for former Party General Secretary Lê Khả Phiêu began this morning at 8am and will run until noon tomorrow at the National Funeral Hall, No. 5 Trần Thánh Tông Street, Hà Nội.

The memorial service will be held at 12:30pm on Saturday at the same place. The burial ceremony will take place at 2pm the same day at Mai Dịch Cemetery in the capital.
 

Current and former Party and State leaders pay their last respects to former General Secretary Lê Khả Phiêu. — VNA/VNS Photo

 
At the same time, respect-paying and memorial ceremonies for the late former Party General Secretary will also be held at the Thống Nhất Hall in HCM City and the 25B Hall on Quang Trung Street, Thanh Hoá City, Thanh Hoá Province.

Senior Lieutenant General Lê Khả Phiêu was born on December 27, 1931, in Thanh Hóa Province’s Đông Sơn District.

He became involved in revolutionary activities in 1947 and joined the Communist Party of Việt Nam on June 19, 1949. He was a member of the Party Central Committee of the 7th and 8th tenures, member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat of the 7th tenure, Politburo member of the 7th and 8th tenures, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee from December 1997 to April 2001; and Deputy to the National Assembly of the 9th and 10th tenures.
Throughout more than 70 years of revolutionary activities, comrade Lê Khả Phiêu made great contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He was awarded the Golden Star, an insignia of 70-year Party membership, and many other noble Vietnamese and international orders and medals.

A ceremony to lower the national flag to half-mast was held at 6am on Friday at Ba Đình Square. — VNA/VNS Photo

A ceremony to lower the national flag to half-mast was held at 6am on Thursday at Ba Đình Square to mark two days of national mourning for former Party leader Lê Khả Phiêu. — VNS