Amid Sea of People, Arafat Laid to Rest in Ramallah

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.

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Before the coffin's arrival, mourners had scaled the walls and broke 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.

Arafat arrived in France Friday, October 29, to receive treatment at Percy military hospital, southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart.

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 Jerusalem , the holy city that Palestinians hope one day to make the capital of their promised state.

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