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The
copter carrying Arafat’s body was met by floods of Palestinians.
(AFP)
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RAMALLAH,
West Bank, November 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Veteran
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was laid to rest Friday, November 12,
in the West Bank town of
Ramallah
, among a
sea
of
Palestinians
who overwhelmed the security cordon in an emotional outbreak to pay
their last respects to the symbol of Palestinian struggle for almost
half a century.
Shortly
after Arafat was buried, the crowd began a prayer joined by
Palestinian leaders including newly appointed Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) chairman Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed
Qorei.
Arafat’s
body was received in Ramallah by thousands of supporters who tried to
catch a last glimpse of the Palestinian leader, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
Overwhelmed
Palestinian security forces shot into the air as the hordes massed
around the helicopter carrying the body of Arafat from
Egypt
, preventing the flag-draped coffin being unloaded for some 20
minutes.
The
coffin was then placed atop a car, but mourners swarmed as security
forces tried to cross the sea of people packed into the Muqataa
compound in Ramallah, where
Israel
kept Arafat under confinement for the last three years of his life.
“With
our soul, with our blood, we will support you, Abu Ammar (Arafat),”
chanted the supporters.
High
Popularity
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His
coffin was moved over a sea of mourners. (AFP)
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Before
the coffin's arrival, mourners had scaled the walls and broken through
the gates of Arafat’s Muqataa headquarters to pay him last respects.
Arab
analysts and media outlets said the chaotic convergence of tens of
thousands of people on the West Bank city from before dawn ahead of
the afternoon burial ceremony inside the Muqataa compound shows the
high popularity of Arafat among his own people.
The
Ramallah journey came after presidents and kings from across the globe
attended
a military funeral in the Egyptian capital
Cairo
, honoring the man who failed to deliver his people an independent
nation at a ceremony fit for a head of state.
The
Cairo
funeral was the highest-profile gathering of international leaders in
the region -- representatives from some 60 countries were present --
since the funeral of Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad in 2000.
It
fell on the final Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the
day many faithful celebrate Al-Quds or Jerusalem Day.
Paying
Last Respects
Palestinian
security services struggled to restrain the flood of mourners who
flocked to Ramallah.
Although
entrance into the Muqataa was limited to family and dignitaries, up to
5,000 people tried to force their way into the compound through the
main gate while thousands more were seated on the walls of the
compound.
The
crowd control problems were not just limited to the outside. At one
stage a wooden structure inside the Muqataa collapsed under the weight
of a throng of mourners.
Israel
had sealed off the
West Bank
but Palestinians living inside the occupied territory made their way
to Ramallah in scores of yellow mini-buses which dropped them off at
the checkpoints that surround the town for the long walk to the
compound.
Palestinian
security forces were out in force, blocking all the main arteries into
the city with makeshift roadblocks of wooden crates, oil drums and
heaps of rubble, all of which were closely guarded by policemen in
black berets.
Taxis
and private vehicles were being prevented from entering.
Arafat,
who symbolized the Palestinian struggle for independence for four
decades, died
at a French military hospital Thursday at the age of 75 of a
still-unidentified illness.
He
arrived
in France Friday, October 29, to receive treatment at
Percy military hospital, southwestern
Paris
suburb of Clamart.
Israel
had refused to fulfill Arafat's wish to be laid to rest in
occupied Jerusalem, the holy city that Palestinians hope one day to make the capital of
their promised state.
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