Arafat's funeral to begin in Egypt
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EGYPT
Posted Fri, 12 Nov 2004Yasser Arafat's funeral was to begin on Friday inside a military compound on the outskirts of Cairo, in what will be a brief and solemn ceremony attended by scores of world leaders but closed to the public.
Short of the massive popular funeral the Palestinian leader might have hoped for in his homeland, the ceremony will be held under tight security surveillance, far from the crowds of central Cairo where Arafat was born.
The coffin of the veteran leader, who died in a military hospital near Paris early on Thursday at the age of 75, arrived in Egypt late on Thursday on an official French aircraft.
It was to be placed overnight in the hospital of the Al-Galaa military complex, which lies on the airport road east of Cairo.
Tight security was enforced in the airport area and identity checks were being carried out in Heliopolis, a Cairo suburb which also houses President Hosni Mubarak's offices and residence.
According to details released by Egyptian government sources, Arafat's coffin is due to be placed on a cannon carriage at around 10am and wheeled to the military compound's mosque.
Facing Mecca
The coffin will be facing Mecca as the attendants perform Muslim funeral prayers.
They will call the name of God four times turning their hands to the sky before praying for God's forgiveness on the deceased and all Muslims.
The coffin will be fitted back on the carriage and lead a procession of a few hundred metres.
When the brief procession is completed, Arafat's body will be transferred to the adjacent military airport of Al-Maza.
Flown to Ramallah
It will then be flown out on a military helicopter to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Arafat is due to be buried in his Muqataa compound, with a refueling stopover in the northern Egyptian town of Al-Arish.
The ceremony in Cairo is expected to follow the protocol used for the funerals of Egyptian presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970 and Anwar Sadat in 1981.
Among the heads of state representing their countries will be Jordan's King Abdullah, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as well as Presidents Iajuddin Ahmed of Bangladesh and newly elected Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia.
Scores of foreign ministers will also make the journey for the highest-profile gathering of international leaders in the region since the funeral of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in 2000.
One Palestinian delegation was expected to travel to Cairo for the ceremony, while another team was due to stay behind in Ramallah to attend the burial.
AFP
