Arafat is dead

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinians at home and abroad wept, waved flags and burned tyres in an eruption of grief at the death of Yasser Arafat, the man they consider the father of their nation, and quickly elevated his No 2 in the PLO as their top leader. In Cairo, workers scrambled to lay new carpet and mow the lawn at a small mosque near the airport where dozens of foreign dignitaries will honour the Palestinian leader in a modest ceremony today, before Arafat’s body is flown to his West Bank headquarters for a massive burial service. In France, the 75-year-old Palestinian leader was honoured with the first of the ceremonies marking his death. Eight pall-bearers carried his flag-draped coffin past an honour guard as a military band played the French and Palestinian national an-thems and a Chopin funeral march. Arafat’s widow, Suha, stifled sobs as her husband’s coffin was transferred from a French military helicopter to an official French aircraft headed to Egypt for his funeral service.

Though it had been expected for several days, Arafat’s death at 3.30 am yesterday after nearly two weeks in a French military hospital stunned Palesti-nians, who wondered who could possibly replace their leader of the last four decades. Arafat had not anointed a successor, but within hours the PLO elected former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas as its new chief, virtually ensuring he takes over as Palestinian leader, at least in the short-term. The Palestinian legislature also swore-in Parliament Speak-er Rauhi Fattouh as caretaker president of the Palestinian Authority, though that position will likely have far less power than it did when Arafat held it. Fattouh is to serve for 60 days until elections can be held, though the law may be amended to allow parliament to choose the new leader. Thousands of Palestinians flooded the streets in grief, crying and clutching his photograph. Even members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups, often critical of Arafat, mourned his death.

“Yasser Arafat is inside in our hearts — in the hearts of the real nation of Palestine,” said Amar Muheisen, 22, a Gaza City resident. “Yasser Arafat will never die.” Black smoke from burning tyres rose across the Gaza Strip and gunmen fired into the air. Palestinian flags at Arafat’s battered compound here were lowered to half staff. Sombre music played on the radio, church bells rang out, and Quranic verses were played for hours over mosque loudspeakers. By evening though, the mour-ning had quieted and Palesti-nians held several subdued candlelight vigils. The Palestinian Cabinet de-clared 40 days of mourning for Arafat, and the Al Aqsa Mar-tyrs’ Brigades in Gaza, a militant group linked to Arafat’s Fatah movement, decided to change its name to the Martyr Yasser Arafat Brigades. Palestinian refugees scattered in neighbouring countries — for whom Arafat symbolised the dreams of returning to their homes in Israel — shouted “Death to Israel” and “We will return to Palestine” during marches in Arafat’s honour. Some burned American and Israeli flags.

“It feels like I lost a father and a good friend,” said 55-year-old Mohammed Sbeiha in Jordan. Though Israel sealed of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and increased security at Jewish settlements, the mourning occasionally turned to violence. Palestinians at a rally at Beit Umar, a village near the West Bank city of Hebron, threw rocks at Israeli cars, and soldiers responded with tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets, the army said. Dozens of Palestinians in Bethlehem heaved boulders and rocks at Israeli troops and tossed an explosive device at soldiers, who shot tear gas and rubber bullets, the army said. Hoping to prevent more violence when Arafat is buried at his Ramallah compound today, Israel’s top security officials met to finalise security arrangements. Palestinians from across the West Bank, as well as Israelis, will be allowed to attend the burial, but only a select group of officials will be permitted to come from Gaza, according to a security official who asked to remain anonymous. Palestinian forces will be responsible for security inside Ramallah, but Israel will ring the city with troops.

The Palestinians originally insisted Arafat be buried in Jerusalem on the disputed holy site that once held the biblical Jewish temples and now holds Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine. Israel refused, fearing a Jerusalem burial would strength-en the Palestinians’ claims to a city they envision as a capital of a future Palestinian state. The Palestinians eventually agreed to lay Arafat to rest at his compound here, the Muqata, battered and strewn with rubble from repeated Israeli raids. But they plan to line his grave with soil taken from the Al Aqsa compound, said Ahmed Ghneim, a Fatah leader, and he is to be interred in a bare concrete box, so his body can be moved to Jerusalem at the first opportunity. Meanwhile, Egypt prepared itself to hold Arafat’s military funeral, complete with a horse-drawn carriage at a small mosque near the airport. The location was chosen to allay security concerns.

Security was on maximum alert around the airport and plainclothes officers were stationed at apartment buildings, mosques, and Cairo’s main train station. Roads near the mosque were expected to be closed off during the ceremony, scheduled for 0900 GMT today. Workers at the King Faisal bin Abdel-Aziz Mosque spent yesterday laying new carpet, cleaning chandeliers, mowing the lawn and planting new foliage for the ceremony. Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, has served in recent years as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians. It agreed to hold the funeral so Arab leaders who refuse to travel to the West Bank while it remains under Israeli control can attend. Heads of state from countries including Jordan, South Africa and Brazil, were expected to attend, along with numerous foreign ministers from around the world.