BANNU: Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Ziad Durrani, the 28-year old eldest son of former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani who died of cardiac arrest, was laid to rest on Thursday at the Mewakhel Surani cemetery in Bannu district amid moving scenes. Ziad Durrani could not survive the fatal heart attack that took his life instantly late Wednesday night, family sources said. His funeral was attended by a large number of politicians belonging to various parties, residents of Bannu, friends and family members and the tribesmen from the adjoining tribal region. ANP’s Senator Baz Muhammad Khan, provincial Minister for Labour and Manpower and PPP leader Sher Azam Khan, besides a large number of sitting and former MPAs attended his funeral. Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker, Kiramatullah Khan, senior ministers Bashir Ahmad Bilour and Rahimdad Khan, and provincial ministers Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Humayun Khan, Amjad Afridi and Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastageer reached Bannu to offer condolences to Akram Durrani over the sudden and sad demise of his son. The chief minister, ministers, MPAs from the treasury and the opposition benches in the KP Assembly expressed heartfelt sympathies with the family of their colleague. Following in the footsteps of his father who is a senior politician of the JUI-F, young Ziad Durrani became active in politics after he graduated from Islamia College Peshawar. Later, he did LLB from the Law College, University of Peshawar. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 2007 by-election on NA-26 on the MMA ticket when the seat became vacant due to the demise of the JUI-F MNA Maulana Naseeb Ali Shah. At the time he was the youngest MNA from the platform of the MMA. In the 2008 general election, he was elected as MPA from the provincial assembly constituency PK-70 in Bannu. His two other brothers are Zahid Durrani and Zohaib Durrani. Ziad Durrani left behind a widow and a minor daughter.
