Kennedy burial set for Saturday

US: Edward Kennedy will be buried on Saturday beside his brothers at Arlington National Cemetery following a private funeral mass and memorial service in Boston, his family said.

President Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at the funeral mass, before likely returning to the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard where he has been on vacation, a White House official said.

There are no plans for Obama to attend the private burial at Arlington, where Kennedy will be laid to rest near his slain brothers, ex-president John F. Kennedy and former senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

On Thursday, a private mass will take place at the Kennedy compound on Cape Code before family members set out at 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) to accompany his remains in a motorcade to Boston, his family said in a statement that included a revised schedule.

There his body lie in repose for the public to view on Friday from 8:00 am (1200 GMT) until 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the John F. Kennedy presidential library. A private memorial service will be held at the library from 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Friday, before a funeral mass on Saturday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, also in Boston.

Kennedy attended the church regularly and prayed there when his daughter Kara had lung cancer.

The burial service at Arlington National Cemetery, on a Virginia hillside overlooking Washington, will begin at 5:30 pm on Saturday (2130 GMT) after Kennedy's remains arrive from Boston.

"The nation's resting place for its heroes, Senator Kennedy spent more days than most at Arlington visiting the graves of his beloved brothers and paying tribute to the fallen men and women of Massachusetts who gave their lives for our country," the family statement said.

Kennedy - a champion of liberal causes during his 47 years in the Senate - late Tuesday at 77 after a 15-month battle with a cancerous brain tumour. Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Thursday, AFP