Egypt prepares for Arafat funeral service
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-10 20:14

Egypt is making official arrangements to host a funeral service for Yasser Arafat when the Palestinian leader dies, a presidential spokesman said said Wednesday.

Palestinian artist Baha Al Khedra works on a mural depicting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his former headquarters in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004. The Israeli Cabinet decided in principle Wednesday to allow Palestinians to bury Yasser Arafat at his sandbagged headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli government officials said.[AP]

The service could be held at Cairo's international airport, Egyptian security officials said. The Palestinian leader will be buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah, but bringing his body to Cairo for a ceremony there would allow Arab leaders to attend without dealing with Israel, which controls access to the Palestinian territories.

Arafat is clinging to life in a deep coma in a Paris hospital.

The Israeli Cabinet on Wednesday officially approved a burial for Arafat in Ramallah — a decision that could defuse a conflict over the issue. Israel had been pushing for a Gaza burial, but the Palestinians wanted Jerusalem.

Palestinians see Arafat's Ramallah headquarters — his virtual prison for the last three years — as a symbol of his resistance. Burial there is less politically sensitive for Israel.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat confirmed that when Arafat dies, his body would be flown first to Cairo for services before being taken to Ramallah.

"We hope a miracle will take place to cure President Arafat, but we consider all possibilities and talk about holding a funeral is taking place," Egyptian presidential spokesman Maged Abdel Fattah said.

The service "will be limited and within the official framework and all this is under discussion," Abdel Fattah said.

Senior Egyptian security and intelligence officials met in the morning to work out arrangements for holding the service at Cairo International Airport, security officials said.

Mohammed Sobeih, the Palestinian representative to the Arab League, said Palestinian leaders are coordinating with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the funeral issue.

"Arafat's funeral should be as great as his heroism and the sacrifices he made for the Palestinian cause," Sobeih said.

He said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and top Arafat deputy Mahmoud Abbas discussed the idea of receiving mourners at the League's headquarters.

On Tuesday, Yemen's official news agency, SABA, quoted President Ali Abdullah Saleh as saying that he discussed the funeral issue with Mubarak.

Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, graduated from engineering school in the Egyptian capital and has forged close ties with the Egyptian government during his struggle to win Palestinian independence.

Egypt has also become a major player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, signing a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, offering to mediate between Palestinian militant groups to achieve a cease-fire in attacks against Israelis and to assist in developing a security apparatus in the neighboring Gaza Strip if Israel withdrew from the volatile coastal area.

Unlike Egypt and Jordan, most Arab countries don't have peace treaties or relations with Israel, and many Arab leaders would be hesitant to pass through Israeli border controls to reach the West Bank.

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