The funeral ceremony for the chairman of the Afghanistan High Peace Council (HPC) Sayed Ahmad Gailani, who died suddenly on Saturday, was held on Monday morning at the Presidential Palace.

He will be buried in Nangarhar later Monday.

The ceremony was attended by his family, along with high-ranking government officials, leaders of political parties, Jihadi leaders and religious scholars.

President Ashraf Ghani, who was also in attendance, addressed those present and spoke about Gailani’s past activities and achievements and said his death was a big loss for the country.

Gailani’s son, Hamid Gailani, also addressed those present and thanked them for attending. He said his father’s primary wish had been for peace and long lasting stability in the country.

The 84-year-old High Peace Council leader was born in Surkhrod district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan and was the spiritual leader of the Qadiriyyah sect.

Gailani died after a short illness in a Kabul hospital on Saturday.

He was born in 1932 and was the leader (Pir) of the Qadiriyyah Sufi order in Afghanistan, and the founder of the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (Mahaz-i-Milli Islami ye Afghanistan), a party that was associated with the Mujahideen who led the war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

The recently signed peace accord between the government and the Hizb-e-Islami party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is said to be one of the achievements of the HPC under Gailani as chairman over the past one year.