Posted on 11/09/2004 4:41:41 PM PST by cjohnson7771
Last Update: 10/11/2004 02:25 PA plans Muqata burial for Arafat
By Arnon Regular and Ronni Singer, Haaretz Correspondents
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath put an end Tuesday to nearly two weeks of speculation by declaring Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's life in a Paris hospital was "now in the hands of God and his doctors."
A late-night report by Itim quoted senior Palestinian sources as saying that PLO Secretary General Mahmoud Abbas - the most senior Palestinian politician after Arafat - would announce in Ramallah Wednesday morning that Arafat had died.
According to the report, Arafat was already dead as of Tuesday night, but the Palestinian leadership would make the official announcement only after Abbas returned to Ramallah from Paris, via Amman, overnight.
Arafat's bureau director, Tayeb Abdul Rahim, indicated in Ramallah Tuesday night that the Palestinian leadership had decided to turn the Muqata into a mausoleum for Arafat, making it his final resting place until circumstances allow him to be buried in Jerusalem.
Israel's security cabinet will meet Wednesday morning to discuss funeral arrangements. Sources said that Israel will not oppose a burial in Ramallah if the PA asks for it, although Israel would prefer that Arafat be buried in the Gaza Strip.
Israel informed international leaders that the Palestinians do not have sufficient forces in the West Bank to provide security for the funeral, but that political considerations overrode security considerations. According to political and defense sources, Israel cannot prevent the Palestinians from burying their leader in Palestinian areas, and will only oppose burial in Jerusalem and Abu Dis.
The cabinet will also discuss the issue of foreign leaders expected for Arafat's funeral, especially from the Arab world. The ministers will decide whether Israel should insist that any foreign dignitary arriving at the funeral will come through a land border and go through Israel security, or a special air corridor will be open for Arab leaders to arrive by helicopter from Jordan or Egypt.
Egypt, meanwhile, is offering to host a funeral service for Arafat in Cairo, a Palestinian official said Tuesday night. An envoy arrived in Ramallah late Tuesday night with the proposal, said Ahmed Subah, the deputy information minister. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered to hold the service for Arafat at the Arab League in Cairo, ahead of burial in Ramallah, said Subah.
At his Paris news conference, Sha'ath made clear that the doctors are unable to pinpoint the reasons for Arafat's low platelet count, which require constant blood transfusions. According to Sha'ath, tests show that Arafat's heart, lungs and brain are functioning. But doctors at the French hospital said his coma deepened overnight.
A long day of speculation and rumors climaxed in the simultaneous, coordinated news conferences in Paris and Ramallah. During the day, which began with the report of the deepening coma, there were also reports that Arafat had died, later refuted by Sha'ath.
In Paris, PLO Secretary General Mahmoud Abbas, PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia', Sha'ath, and Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Rouhi Fathi were allowed into the hospital, where Arafat's wife, Suha, greeted them warmly, said Sha'ath, only 24 hours after accusing them of conspiring to "bury alive" her husband.
Sha'ath later explained that she had been under enormous pressure, and her 4 A.M. outburst on Monday was based on a misunderstanding.
Doctors at the hospital spent two hours with the four Palestinian officials, informing them that tests had ruled out cancer or poisoning as the reason for Arafat's decline. Then the four picked Qureia to enter Arafat's room for a first-hand look at the Palestinian leader, on what they all conceded was his deathbed.
Sha'ath rejected talk of "euthanasia" saying it was contrary to the Islamic faith, and that in any case Arafat was not in any pain that needed to be alleviated. He said that Arafat had not been in a coma for years or even months, which might have required alleviating the family's suffering.
While refusing to comment on the prognosis directly, Sha'ath gave the impression that Arafat had only a few more hours to live. However he refused to discuss funeral arrangements for the rais, saying that Arafat's life was in God's hands, and it was inappropriate to talk about funeral arrangements while Arafat was still alive.
Without saying so directly, Sha'ath ruled out any recovery for the Palestinian leader. Asked about "the day after," Sha'ath spoke about the Palestinian Basic Law explicitly calling for the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council to take up the acting role of chairman and then holding elections within 60 days.
In Ramallah, however, Rahim, flanked by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, said that "all the necessary arrangements" would be made at the Muqata, which was immediately understood to mean that the funeral would be held in the compound where Arafat had been under siege by Israel since December 2001.
Presumably, the large empty field used as a helicopter pad to lift Arafat out of Ramallah and fly him to Amman - where a flying hospital flew him to France last week could serve the large gathering of mourners expected, including many foreign statesmen.
According to Western diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, messages have been passed through diplomatic channels between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, with Israel saying it would not apply security restrictions on foreign statesmen coming to the funeral.
Israel still prefers Gaza as a better locale for the funeral, particularly since the Arafat family owns a cemetery plot there, and security would be easier to control for the Palestinians.
But the Palestinians have apparently given up trying to obtain a grave plot for Arafat on either the Temple Mount or in Abu Dis, and are now focused exclusively on Ramallah and the symbolism of a Muqata funeral.
Among the foreigners anticipated for an Arafat funeral are Libya's Moammar Gaddafi and many other Arab leaders. However reports that the funeral is slated for Ramallah have some worried about security.
Okay, who won the pool?
This thread surely must be pulled for being a dupe!
I say we have at least two more "Arafat is still alive" stories before the week is out.
Elvis calling: is yassar in yet?
Again???
I hope this is not another phony "exit" poll. LOL
Is he going to stay dead this time?
YAY!!!! We're one dead terrorist closer to peace in the Middle East.
Guess it's time to rush outside and fire our weapons in the air ....
He sounds only merely dead
Not,
Really most sincerely dead.
He's dead, Jim.
In the immortal words of Rocket J. Squirrel - "What, again?"
How long before he comes back to life or this the "real" deal? Excuse me for being a skeptic but I have never seen someone be declared dead and then alive so much in my life! :)
LOL damn exit polls!
People being polled as they leave his hospital room.
LOL! I can picture that!
Is this for real or another Nine-lives deal. This guy has died more times than Clinton lied, well maybe not. Lets hurry up and plant him to make sure he does not live again. the deeper the planting the better!!
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