Aleppo bids farewell to its son, Hollywood film-maker al-Aqqad

Aleppo, north Syria, on Sunday bid farewell to the body of its son, renowned Hollywood film maker Mustafa al-Aqqad. Aqqad ( 68 years old) died because of wounds from the explosions which targeted three hotels in Amman, Jordan, last Wednesday.

Following the funeral prayers on the body at al-Rawda mosque in Aleppo, the advisor for the Syrian minister of al-Awqaf ( Islamic Trusts) spoke of the cinema achievements of the deceased. The body was held on shoulders of Aleppo citizens to the "new cemetery in east Aleppo and was buried there."

The Syrian president to the funeral ceremony was represented by the minister of culture Mahmoud al-Sayyed. The Syrian minister delivered a speech in the occasion in which he conveyed condolences of the Syrian leadership to the family of the deceased, noting that al-Assad issued a decree recommending to offer late al-Aqqad a Syrian order of merit, excellent class, as an appreciation for his national and patriotic stances.

SANA quoted al-Sayyed as saying that the loss of al-Aqqad is not only a Syrian loss rather a loss at the national and international levels, stressing that the deceased was believing in the humanitarian and civilization message of the Arab nation and reflected his belief in his renowned film "the message."

The body of the late Syrian film-maker arrived from Amman on Saturday to the Syrian border, accompanied by the Jordanian prime minister Adnan Badran and the minister of culture Amin Mahmoud. He was welcomed by the Syrian prime minister Naji Otari and several Syrian cabinet ministers.

Aqqad was injured while he was in the lobby the Grand hotel receiving his daughter, who was coming from Beirut when the explosion took place and resulted in her instant killing, while Aqqad was severely wounded in his neck and lost much blood.

One of the most famous films by Aqqad was "Omar al-Mukhtar: the lion of the desert" and "The Message." Aqqad is the producer of a series of Halloween horror films as well.