Posted on 11/12/2004 3:23:00 AM PST by Former Military Chick
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Yasser Arafat's funeral service began with humble prayers Friday and ended with a military procession, his wooden coffin borne on a horse-drawn gun carriage and draped in the Palestinian flag, followed by presidents and kings.
His veiled widow, Suha, and their rarely seen 9-year-old daughter, Zahwa, wept as a band dressed in scarlet played the Palestinian and Egyptian national anthems at a military airfield in northern Cairo.
The casket was then loaded aboard the Egyptian air force plane, which took off on the journey to carry Arafat's body to the West Bank.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as Farouk Kaddoumi, the newly chosen head of the Fatah organization, and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the PLO executive committee, were among those in the front row of about 60 world leaders and other dignitaries who earlier marched behind the casket down Salah Salem Street, which was closed to the public.
Also in the front row was Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, among the Arab leaders with whom Arafat had clashed in the past. The United States, which had labeled Arafat an obstacle to peace, sent Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.
The band played a funeral dirge and a high-stepping honor guard carried wreaths at the head of the procession.
The service, amid high security at the Galaa Club, a military compound in northern Cairo, was shown live on Egyptian television, although all other media was barred from the mosque and tent where most dignitaries sat through the prayers.
"He has served his people all his life, until he faced his God, with courage and honesty. Let us pray for his soul," the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar Mohammed Sayed Tantawi said.
Throughout the ceremony, Egyptian television played Quranic recitations, including a verse: "After hardship, ease."
Arafat's coffin was to be flown to el-Arish, in Egypt's northeastern Sinai Peninsula, said Palestinian coordinator Hani Jebour. Two Jordanian helicopters would then ferry the coffin and its accompanying delegation to Arafat's Ramallah compound, where he was kept a virtual prisoner in his final years, for burial before sunset.
Arafat, who died Thursday in Paris, was mourned by Palestinians at home and in refugee camps across the region who had hoped he would one day lead them back to Jerusalem, and by Arabs who saw him as an inspiring leader. Arab and Israeli authorities took steps to prevent any emotional outpouring from evolving into riots, and many countries declared official mourning periods.
Harried preparations for Arafat's grave were made in Ramallah. Early Friday, workers raked sand to level the ground as they laid gray marble slabs around the base of the open, stone-lined tomb. The Palestinians consider it a temporary grave site - until the day they hope they can honor his request to be buried in Jerusalem.
Flags flew at half-staff in the compound, where Palestinian policemen rehearsed rifle drills for the ceremony. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia briefly stopped by to inspect progress on the tomb, while outside a few young men sat, heads clasped in their hands, next to posters of Arafat and piles of wilting flowers.
Security was a concern throughout Cairo. The Arab public - among whom Arafat was popular - was told to stay away from the area.
The plane carrying Arafat's coffin arrived from France late Thursday. Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of the Egyptian president, greeted Suha Arafat with a hug.
Early Friday, black-uniformed Egyptian police lined the street near the Galaa Club, where the funeral began at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. EST), an hour earlier than officials had said it would. A soldier watched over the club from high in a minaret of the mosque.
After a traditional funeral prayer lasting only a few minutes, eight dark-suited pallbearers carried the casket from the mosque and handed it to an Egyptian honor guard. They placed it in a silver hearse and drove away from the mosque; the carriage stood motionless flanked by Egyptian honor guards.
Egyptian television showed pictures of Mubarak arriving at the colorful, red-carpeted tent on the grounds of the military club. There, Farouk Kaddoumi, newly chosen leader of the Fatah organization, and Abbas could be seen standing with Arafat's nephew, Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Nasser al-Kidwa, to receive condolences.
Among the dignitaries were King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Bashar Assad of Syria, Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah of Brunei, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana and Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church.
"Yasser Arafat was more important for Palestinian identity than their flag and their national anthem," Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. envoy for the Middle East and a key player in the talks that led to the 1993 Oslo peace accord, told The Associated Press during the funeral.
He said he hoped the new Palestinian leadership would return to peace negotiations with Israel.
In a column published in Friday's New York Times, King Abdullah II of Jordan urged the United States to "refocus" on the peace process.
"In Israel, the government can recommit to the road map and move swiftly to withdraw from Gaza and take other confidence-building measures that will refute the charge that its recent policies are intended to sideline the peace process and further divide people," he wrote. "Both sides can now make the compromises that a comprehensive, lasting and just peace requires."
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Right now, I am speechless.
Waylon Jennings said it best,,,,,Stop the world and let me off!!!!
The worlds absurdity never ceased to amaze me.
Be sure and take the names of all the world leaders at the funeral: They are our enemies.
Needs some beer & pork rinds...maybe some Charlie Daniels and Fabulous Thunderbirds in the background.
translation: another round of terrorist activities in the near future.
Start with the French, who gave him a military sendoff, complete with Honor Guard. Don't forget the UN, who lowered their flags to half staff.
Imus is having almost too much fun with this on MSNBC.
I'm watching the crowd in Ramallah waiting for the helicopter carrying Arafat. It is, as one would expect, hilarious in a dark and crazy kind of way.
There isn't anything to be speechless about. This whole article is a joke. It was probably written a week ago so Donna Abu-Nasr could go on vacation.
The only part of it that rings true is the part about the Palestinian masses, and then only because Arafat worked so hard all his life to keep them in poverty and utterly useless to the world that they have nothing else to do but turn out to "mourn."
Other "mourners" must be asking what they did recently that put them in this dog house. William Burns had to have been caught muttering to himself that that clown James Earl Carter should be the one here in Burns' place. After all, murdering, raping, pederast butchers (such as Arafat) the world over are Carter's kind of people.
Per Fox News, idiots are showing up at Arafat's funeral with WEAPONS!
It looked like ants swarming a hill.
It looked like it could become utter chaos real quick when Arafat's rotting corpse lands.
Imus wants a total riot, that would be hilarious. He wants to see these peole rush the carriage, grab the coffin, and start parading it thru the streets.
The coverage on the networks given to honor a thug is ridiculous.
OK, just as long as it's correct
You can fool all of the people all of the time.
Well there are a whole lot of Arabs in Jerusalem today and not a one is looking sad. In fact, most have smiles and are out shopping to celebrate. Every single Arab I have spoken with in 5 years of living here hate Arafats guts.
But when you understand that being Palestinian is not a people but a political party, then you begin to understand the mourning. Just like the Democrats are mourning Kerrys "demise", so to are the terrorist elements mourning Arafat. They will be sorry he is gone, but they will also line up to piss on his grave.
Only with Isalm.
Reminds me of a scripture. What's bad will be considered good and what's good will be considered bad, or something like that.
This would be just like giving Hitler an honourable send-off. Unbelievable.
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