An agreement on funeral arrangements to be made in the aftermath of Yasser Arafat’s death was reached on Tuesday by Israeli and Palestinian officials, a senior Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.
”Senior Palestinian and Israeli officials have reached an agreement in principle on the arrangements to be made after the death of president Arafat,” the official told AFP.
He refused to give further details about the agreement, and in particular whether Israel had given the go-ahead for the Palestinian leader to eventually be buried in his battered Muqataa compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday that his country was willing to work with any future Palestinian leaders in the event of Arafat’s death.
”The US remains ready to engage with the Palestinian leadership as the Palestinians define that leadership,” Powell said.
”We will see what happens in the days ahead, but our commitment to the two-state solution on the basis of the roadmap … remains intact,” he said.
”The roadmap is there, the roadmap is ready to be used,” he said.
”The president’s vision is of two states living side by side in peace: Israel and the state of Palestine.”
Of Arafat, Powell said: ”We know that he is gravely ill. There has been no confirmation of his demise yet. We will all watch and wait and keep the Palestinian people and Arafat in mind at this difficult time for them.” – Sapa-AFP
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