Arafat to be buried on holy city’s soil

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be buried in his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank but on soil from Jerusalem, Local Affairs Minister Jamal Shubaki said on Thursday.

“We have brought earth from Jerusalem” to Ramallah, the minister said on the eve of the funeral and burial of the veteran Palestinian leader, who died early on Thursday at the age of 75 in a French hospital.

Shubaki said that at Friday’s burial service at the Muqataa, Arafat’s body will be placed in a concrete coffin that could be moved at any time to a final resting place in east Jerusalem, where Arafat said he would like to be buried.

“Soil from Jerusalem will be poured under the coffin,” Shubaki said, allowing Arafat to be buried on earth from Jerusalem, home to the Al-Aqsa mosque complex, the third holiest site for the world’s Muslims.

Palestinian deputy leader Mohammed Hourani confirmed that Arafat will be technically laid to rest on Jerusalem soil, if not in the actual holy city.

“The whole world must know that Israel prevented Arafat from being buried in Jerusalem,” Hourani said.

Arafat had expressed a wish to be laid to rest in Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of their promised future state, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon categorically ruled out that possibility.

However, Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat said earlier this week that once an Israeli-Palestinian peace is reached, Arafat’s body could be transferred to the Al-Aqsa compound.

“I think it [the burial in Ramallah] will be temporary and one day, when we have peace and we are alright as neighbours, President Arafat’s body will be moved to east Jerusalem, to the al-Aqsa mosque,” he added.

An official funeral for Arafat is to take place on Friday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to be attended by heads of state or their emissaries, followed by the burial in Ramallah.

Bulldozers, dump trucks and a mechanical digger were being used on Thursday to clear away debris at the vast Muqataa compound ahead of Friday’s burial.

Gaza withdrawal to continue

Meanwhile, Israel will continue implementing its unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip until Palestinians fulfil their obligations under the international “road map” peace plan, Israel Premier Ariel Sharon said on Thursday.

Speaking hours after Arafat was declared dead, Sharon said a new opportunity to resume peace talks could be formed if the Palestinians carry out their commitments under the road map.

“So long as they do not take these steps, Israel will continue to implement the disengagement plan according to a timetable that has been decided on,” the Israel Y-net internet site quoted him.

The peace plan, launched amid great fanfare last year, is currently firmly quagmired, with each side blaming the other and the international community blaming them both.

Israel accuses the Palestinians of failing to honour a commitment to destroy the infrastructure of the militant groups; Palestinians accuse Israel of not fulfilling obligations to end settlement activity in the occupied territories.

Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal, or disengagement plan, calls on Israel to evacuate all its 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank, next year. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa-DPA

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