World

Details released for funeral of former US President Jimmy Carter

07:00 am on 31 December 2024

Former US president Jimmy Carter died Monday aged 100. Photo: AFP / YOMIURI SHIMBUN

A state funeral for Jimmy Carter, the former US president who died on Monday at the age of 100, will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on 9 January, the New York Times said.

US President Joe Biden has directed that 9 January be a national day of mourning for Carter throughout the US.

Biden will eulogise Carter at the state funeral following eight days of ceremonies in Georgia and in Washington, the Times reported.

Carter, a Democrat, became president in January 1977 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election. His one-term presidency was marked by the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East.

He spent his long post-presidential career devoted to humanitarian work, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. World leaders and former US presidents have paid tribute to a man they praised as compassionate, humble and committed to peace in the Middle East.

A motorcade will take Carter from his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta, where he will lie in repose on Saturday and Sunday at the Carter Presidential Center, the Times reported. He will then be flown to Washington on 6 January to lie in state at the US Capitol, the Times reported. After the cathedral service, Carter will be brought back to Georgia for burial.

- Reuters