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LOS ANGELES : Michael Jackson's family on Thursday announced a free memorial service for the late pop icon Tuesday at the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles.
Some 11,000 tickets will be distributed free of charge for the event, a public relations firm representing the family said in a statement.
It said the memorial service would take place at 10 am (1700 GMT) on Tuesday.
The announcement ended a week of mixed signals on memorial plans for the King of Pop, who collapsed and died at age 50 on June 25 as he prepared for a 50-date concert set in London.
AEG, the promoters of the London concerts, was arranging the memorial service. Further details of the memorial event were to be announced on Friday.
The family earlier quashed talk of a memorial service at Neverland, Jackson's sprawling fantasy ranch north of Los Angeles.
A service at Neverland, however, poignant, would have caused logistical headaches if thousands of people descended on the isolated grounds on short notice. Laws also restrict the burial of people on residential property.
- AFP/il
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