Dead pop singer's scary premonition

The month before she died in a plane crash, singer Aaliyah said she had a recurring dream that she was flying away from her problems.

"It is dark in my favourite dream. Someone is following me. I don't know why. I'm scared," she said in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit, which was released yesterday.

"Then, suddenly, I lift off. Far away. How do I feel? As if I am swimming in the air. Free. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me. It's a wonderful feeling."

The interview, in a Paris hotel, was one of the last given by the 22-year-old star, who died with eight others when her plane crashed after takeoff on Saturday in the Bahamas.

Asked to discuss her dreams, she talked frankly about her goals and wishes.

She said she was fascinated with the culture of Egypt and planned to take a break from her career to study Egyptology.

"I was once an Egyptian," she said. "It's the only way I can explain my fascination."

Her ideal mate was a masculine man, "strong like an Egyptian warrior," she said.

"I'm a hopeless romantic. I want a man, children - a happy family."

A private funeral will be held in Manhattan.

Aaliyah's body was flown back to the United States on Tuesday as safety experts examined the debris of the crashed plane.

Aaliyah and her crew, all US citizens, were leaving Marsh Harbour in the northern Bahamas after shooting a music video when the twin-engine Cessna crashed.

- AGENCIES