Austrian far-Right leader Haider goes to his grave, taking secret of last hours in gay club with him



Austria's far-Right leader Joerg Haider was buried with pomp and circumstance yesterday - but with a seedy gay bar as the backdrop to the official farewell.

It emerged that he spent the last hour of his life polishing off a bottle of vodka in a homosexual haunt in his hometown of Klagenfurt with an unknown young man before dying aged 58 in a car crash.

Yesterday the 30,000 mourners included Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, and SS veterans. Many cabinet members, led by president Heinz Fischer, also attended the funeral.



Guards of honour stand by Joerg Haider's coffin



There was an air of Princess Diana hysteria as the roads were thronged with people and flowers piled high at the cathedral in tribute to Haider, an admirer of Hitler.

Joerg Haider died in a car crash last week after being nearly four times over the legal limit

Despite past Press reports of his homosexuality, he was seemingly happily married - to Claudia - with two daughters, Ulrike and Cornelia, and poised once more to become a power broker after his splinter group Alliance For Austria’s Future won a third of the vote in last month’s general election.

But he seemed to possess the self-destruct gene.

A customer at the bar offered to drive Haider home because he looked worse for wear, but was turned down. Haider went there after going to a nightclub, the public prosecutor in Klagenfurt said.

He arrived at 12.15am on October 11, left 30 minutes later and half an hour after that he was dead.

The official VW Phaeton limousine he was driving skidded out of control after he overtook another vehicle, hit a concrete barrier and flipped over several times.



He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

Crowds: Thousands of mourners watch the open air memorial service



Tradition: Mountain men act as pall bearers, carrying Mr Haider's coffin

Haider’s car, which had been in full working order according to experts, was travelling at nearly 90mph - twice the speed limit - and he was three times over the drink-drive maximum.

Yesterday, black flags were flying from public buildings in Austria as his coffin - draped

in a flag and festooned with red roses - was carried through the streets of Klagenfurt in bright sunshine towards the cathedral.

Haider’s £13million country estate will pass to his widow Claudia.

Tears: Mr Haider's widow Claudia shows her grief by embracing daughter Ulrike



Friends: Lybian dictator Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif Gaddafi, centre, at the service



Militaristic: Soldiers carrying the coffin make their way towards the cathedral

