Ted Kennedy to be buried next to brothers

BOSTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The body of Sen. Edward Kennedy will lie in repose at his brother's presidential library before a funeral at a historic Boston church, officials said Wednesday.

The senator, who died of brain cancer Tuesday night at age 77, will then be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, in a grave close to those of his slain brothers, American Forces Press Service said.

The Kennedy funeral was being planned for the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, known as the Mission Church, which was built in 1870, The Boston Globe reported. It's the same church where Kennedy prayed while his daughter Kara overcame cancer, the Globe said.

Defense Department officials said there was no need for a waiver to bury Kennedy in the military cemetery at Arlington, Va.

"He served in the Army, and he was an elected official of the U.S. government," an unnamed official told American Forces Press. "No waiver was needed."

Kennedy served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, the report said.

His grave is planned near that of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, the former U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator assassinated in 1968 while running for president. RFK's grave is up the hill from the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963.

Kennedy's funeral will be held Saturday morning at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Globe said.

Ceremonies are set to begin Thursday with a motorcade from Hyannis to the JFK Library, and a public wake will be held Thursday in the library's Smith Center. Times for the funeral and wake had yet to be set.

The public viewing will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A Saturday service will also be invitation only, the Globe reported.

Kennedy will be buried at 5 p.m. Saturday next to John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery. The service will be a family-only affair at the National Shrine, the Globe said.