ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - The widow of the late reggae legend Bob Marley said yesterday she was determined to honour his wish for burial in Ethiopia, but did not say when the body might be moved from his native Jamaica.

MARLEY. it will happen in due course

Rita Marley first announced the reburial plans earlier this month, leading many in Jamaica to protest that it would rob the Caribbean island of its national heritage.

"We have no time set for the reburial of Bob Marley in Ethiopia, there is no rush for it," Rita Marley said yesterday. "It will happen in due course."

"It was Bob's dream, and the family shares that dream," she said. Bob Marley was a devout Rastafarian, a faith that worships Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile Selassie, as a living god based on the prophecy by Jamaican civil rights leader Marcus Garvey that a black man would be crowned king in Africa.

Rita Marley has said her late husband would be reburied in Shashemene, where hundreds of Rastafarians have lived for decades since they were given land by Selassie. Shashemene is about 155 miles (250 kilometres) south of Addis Ababa.

A month of celebrations in both Shashemene and Addis Ababa are being planned for February to mark the 60th anniversary of Bob Marley's birth.

Rita Marley, the African Union and UN Children's Fund have organised the US$1-million (euro770,000) celebrations, expected to be broadcast in Africa and beyond.

This is the first time the event has been held outside Jamaica. Plans are also underway to put up a statue of Bob Marley in Ethiopia, she said.

Half of the money raised during the month-long festivities will go to help Somali victims of the December 26 tsunami, organisers said yesterday.

More than 295 Somalis were killed by tsunami, the largest number of victims in Africa, and thousands were left homeless when the giant waves swept the coastline.

Proceeds from the festivities will also fund youth projects in Ethiopia, said Desta Meghoo-Peddie, managing director of the Bob Marley Foundation.
Rita Marley will sing February 6 with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt as the I-Threes - Bob Marley's former backing group.

Joining them on stage will be Senegal's Baaba Maal and Youssou N'Dour, Benin's Kidjo, Reggae rapper Shaggy, soul singer India Arie and Marley's children.

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