|
Mahmoud Abbas
(1st R), general secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO), chairs a meeting of the PLO Executive
Committee in the West Bank city of Ramallah Nov. 6, 2004. Israeli Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday that preparatory works have completed on
the Israeli side to bury Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza in case
of his death.(Xinhua photo/Gao Xueyu)
| JERUSALEM, Nov. 7
(Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday that preparatory
works have completed on the Israeli side to bury Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat in Gaza in case of his death.
The preparations for
the burial will be finalized if an official announcement of the veteran leader's
death is issued by the Palestinian leadership, Mofaz told the cabinet.
Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported Sunday that Israel
would ease conditions on Arafat's funeral and would make all efforts to allow
foreign dignitaries to attend the event.
The report said a
special "air corridor" would be set up to allow officials from Arab states that
do not have diplomatic relations with Israel to fly to Arafat's funeral without
passing through Israeli border control.
Palestinians
attending the funeral would be taken from the West Bank to Gaza by Israeli
buses, according to the preparation plan.
Israel indicated
that it would allow Arafat's burial in the Gaza Strip but not in the West Bank
or Jerusalem.
However, Arafat expressed previously that he
would like to be buried in Jerusalem, a city he claimed to be his
birthplace.
Arafat, flown to Paris for medical treatment
after two weeks of illness, remained in a critical but stable condition in a
military hospital outside Pairs.
Palestinian officials have yet to make any formal request as for Arafat's burial place, Israel said. Enditem |
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