Palestinians flying to Arafat's side
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-08 08:53

With Yasser Arafat fighting for his life in a French hospital, his top lieutenants will fly to Paris for consultations with his doctors, a senior official said Sunday, as Palestinian leaders worked to set up contingency plans in the event of the 75-year-old leader's death.

Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas — Arafat's deputy in the Palestine Liberation Organization — said in a statement that he, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath would leave Monday for Paris.

A member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement holds a poster of the ailing Palestinian leader during a pro-Arafat demonstration in the West Bank town of Nablus Sunday Nov. 7, 2004. Critically ill, Arafat spent a fifth day Sunday in the intensive care unit of a French military hospital in Paris, an aide said, as Israeli officials completed plans for a burial in the Gaza strip in the event of his death. [AP]

Qureia and Abbas have been working together to run Palestinian affairs in Arafat's absence and to prevent chaos and violence if the Palestinian leader dies. Qureia has taken on some of Arafat's executive and security powers, while Abbas has been chairing meetings of the PLO's executive body.

Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief, returned to the West Bank from France with a message for the leaders from Arafat's wife Suha, one of the few people with access to the ailing leader.

Arafat's illness remained a mystery Sunday, his fifth day in intensive care at a French military hospital amid contradictory reports on whether he is in a coma. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier would say only that he is alive, though his condition is "very complex, very serious and stable."

Arafat's death and burial are potentially explosive issues.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday that the military is preparing for possible violence in the event of his death and would send in reinforcements, according to security officials.

Palestinians officials say Arafat has expressed a wish to be buried at a hotly disputed holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Al Aqsa Mosque compound lies on top of the ruins of the biblical Jewish temples. The site, revered by Muslims and Jews, is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, and disputes over its fate have torpedoed several peace efforts.

Israel opposes an Arafat burial anywhere in Jerusalem, fearing it would reinforce the Palestinian claim to the eastern part of the city and become a pilgrimage site.

Mofaz told the Cabinet that Israeli security officials have completed preparations for Arafat to be buried in the Gaza Strip, where his family has a cemetery plot, according to participants at the meeting.

Israel expects many dignitaries to attend the funeral. Those from nations with diplomatic relations with Israel would be transported to Gaza from Israel, those from countries hostile to Israel could fly from Jordan to Gaza through Israeli airspace, security officials said on condition of anonymity. Palestinians in the West Bank could be bused through Israel to Gaza.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat criticized the Israeli plan in principle.

"I think it's inappropriate to speak about burying people when they're still alive," Erekat said. "I urge the Israelis to show some sensitivity."

Arafat's clan, the Al-Kidwas, is originally from Gaza, though the Palestinian leader grew up in Jerusalem and Cairo. The family has a small plot of 25 to 30 graves in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The overgrown patch is in the middle of a busy vegetable market and would not be considered appropriate.

Other burial options include a seaside plot next to his old headquarters in Gaza City, or Gaza City's "martyrs' cemetery" east of the city, close to Israel.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials continued working on plans for governing the Palestinians in Arafat's absence.

The Palestinian National Security Council, temporarily headed by Qureia, approved the premier's plan for internal security Sunday, according to Palestinian officials. No details of the plan were available. In recent days, Qureia has assumed some emergency financial and administrative powers that Arafat would normally wield.

Abbas, considered a more likely successor, has chaired a series of meetings of the PLO executive committee in Arafat's absence in an effort to project unity among Palestinian leaders.

But neither politician has much grassroots support among Palestinians or important militant groups.

Four masked gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement, distributed a leaflet in Ramallah saying Arafat is their only commander, and the only acceptable successor would be West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison.

Palestinian officials have been grumbling that Arafat's wife has assumed new powers as she tended Arafat, with some pointing out that she had not visited the West Bank — or even her husband — for three years.

"She is not part of the Palestinian leadership," Arafat security adviser Jibril Rajoub told Israel's Channel Two TV on Sunday.

In violence Sunday, Israeli undercover forces killed four Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinians said. The military said the four opened fire during an arrest operation.

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