The Hindu : International : Israel to allow Ramallah burial

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 11, 2004

International

International

Israel to allow Ramallah burial

JERUSALEM, NOV. 10. Acceding to requests by the Palestinian Authority, Israel today said it would allow a burial for the ailing Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, at his headquarters in Ramallah.

``Taking into account the recommendation of the (Israeli) securiy bodies .... it is our intention to allow the funeral and burial in Ramallah,'' an official statement said, following a Security Cabinet meeting, headed by the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. ``Israel is interested in having the burial ceremony and funeral arrangements take place in an orderly fashion, in order to avoid confrontations or unnecessary escalation,'' it said.

However, the responsibility for maintaining security and public order in Ramallah during the burial and after will solely be that of the Palestinians, as Israel has ruled out any involvement in maintaining security for this purpose.

``This message was passed on to the Palestinians and Arab and international bodies,'' the Prime Minister's bureau said.

Mr. Sharon had convened the meeting of his security service chiefs and senior Ministers, following Palestinian leaders' declaration that they would like to bury Mr. Arafat, who is comatose in a Paris hospital, at his Muqata (headquarters).

The Palestinian Cabinet Minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr. Sharon's office called him and informed him of ``their acceptance of our request to bury Arafat in Muqata.''

Israel had in the past said it would prefer a Gaza burial for the Palestinian veteran, completely ruling out the possibility of Jerusalem in any case, but now acceded to Palestinian requests regarding Ramallah.

Mr. Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah is just a few kilometres from Jerusalem, but Mr. Erekat said the Palestinian leader's body would eventually be moved for burial in East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound when peace is reached with Israel. Palestinian youths chanting Mr. Arafat's name threw stones and bottles at Israeli police in Arab East Jerusalem today during an all-night prayer session for the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

Sign of unrest

It was the first sign of unrest since Mr. Arafat suffered a brain haemorrhage and aides said he was dead — though Palestinian officials denied that in public. — PTI, Reuters

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