JOHANNESBURG, June 25 — South Africa’s Pretoria High Court issued a ruling on Wednesday that stopped the private burial of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu in the country. The funeral, set to begin at 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday, was halted at the last minute after the court received an urgent application from the Zambian government seeking to repatriate Lungu’s remains. Zambia’s Attorney-General Mulilo Kabesha filed the application on Tuesday, arguing against the private burial and calling for the repatriation of the late president’s remains. The court stated that an agreement between the two parties had been reached, which stopped the service already underway in Johannesburg. The family agreed to stop the service pending the “finalization of the application.” Lungu died in a South African hospital on June 5 after a short illness.
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