YAQUB Ali, one of Scotland's foremost Asian entrepreneurs, has died during a brief visit to Pakistan.
The millionaire businessman, who had returned to his homeland to work on a trust he was setting up to help deprived young people attend university, was 72 and battling against cancer for the third time.
Before he left his home in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, he reassured concerned family that he would be back within a week.
Leading politicians yesterday were among those who paid tribute to Mr Ali, who arrived in Glasgow in 1952 with (pounds) 4 in his pocket and began earning his living by selling knitwear door to door.
Mr Ali, a Tory party supporter, made his name building up the Gorbals-based Castle Cash and Carry empire and earlier this year was listed among Scotland's 10 wealthiest Asian businessmen.
He is known to have given large donations to a number of projects, including (pounds) 250,000 to the Pakistan higher education scholarship scheme last year.
His firm, Castle 2000 Property Developments, also was behind a new (pounds) 40m golf complex in Irvine, Ayrshire, which was sold earlier this year.
Frank McAveety, minister for tourism, culture and the arts, who worked for Castle Cash and Carry as a student and last year attended a delegation to Pakistan organised by Mr Ali, described him as a ''lovely fellow'' who donated to ''endless charities across Scotland and Pakistan''.
Mohammed Sarwar, Britain's first Muslim MP, said: ''I know people crying in Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities. He was loved by all. This is a very sad loss for Scotland.''
Bashir Mann, a former Glasgow councillor and a friend of Mr Ali's for more than 50 years, said: ''We will miss him and so will not only the Asian community but the Scottish community as a whole.''
Mr Ali, whose wife, Nancy, died in September 2000, had a son, Rafiq, and a granddaughter
He fell ill soon after arriving in Pakistan and died on Saturday, when he had been due to return to Scotland. A Muslim funeral took place on Sunday in Pakpattan in the south of the country, the village where he grew up.
Dilshad Ahmad, 42, Mr Ali's nephew, said: ''His death is a very big loss for our family and our community.''
A full obituary will appear in The Herald tomorrow.
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