The exhumation was accompanied by full military honours
The
remains of King Zog, Albania's former monarch, are being repatriated
from France more than 50 years after his death, French media report.
They are being flown back to the small Balkan state after
being exhumed at Thiais cemetery south of Paris, French broadcaster RFI
said.Around 100 people reportedly attended the ceremony in the cemetery.
Critics accuse Albania's government of seeking to make political capital out of the former king.
His remains are due to be put on show in the capital Tirana before being placed in a newly built mausoleum for the royal family.
Albania is currently celebrating the centenary of its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
King Zog, whose original name was Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli, proclaimed himself monarch in 1928 but fled in 1939 as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist troops invaded Albania.
In exile, he lived for years in England, then Egypt, before settling in France where he died in 1961.
His only son, Crown Prince Leka, died last year after failing in his efforts to restore the monarchy in Albania.
His grandson, Prince Leka, currently serves as a political adviser to Albanian President Bujar Faik Nishani.
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