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Romanov remains to be buried

In Russia, the chairman of the state commission set up to examine the authenticity of the remains of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, has said skeletons unearthed at Ekaterinburg in 1991 are, beyond all scientific doubt, those of the royal family. The commission is due to make its final recommendation as to the fate of the remains later this week, but its chairman said the Tsar and his family would now be buried in an appropriate funeral ceremony within the next few months. The BBC's Moscow Correspondent, Alan Little, reports:

The disputed remains have lain in limbo in a morgue in the city of Ekaterinburg where the murders took place in 1918 for the last six years. Russia's first deputy Prime Minister, Boris Nemtsov, said scientific tests had proven them to be those of the late Tsar, Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and three of their daughters. The remains of the two youngest children are still missing.

The Russian Orthodox Church has disputed the authenticity of the remains, but Mr Nemtsov believes he will have the support of the Chief Cleric, Patriarch Alexi, when his commission submits its report to President Yeltsin on Friday. Mr Nemtsov said he expected the Tsar's family to be given a funeral, 80 years after their deaths, within the next few months. The most likely burial site is the Peter and Paul fortress at St Petersburg, the Tsarist capital.

But both Moscow and Ekaterinburg have staked claims to become the final resting place of the last of the Romanovs. The debate over the fate of the remains is intense. It is part of a process by which Russia is confronting the realities of its past that were denied or covered-up in Soviet times.

President Yeltsin will make the final decision about where the remains should be buried and how. But this week's state commission recommendation will bring this most symbolic of controversies closer to its final conclusion.

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