Special report: Concern mounts over Yasser Arafat's health

Yasser Arafat. (Xinhua File Photo)

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Yasser Arafat will ultimately be buried in the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, even if the step takes years, Israel Radio Wednesday quoted an Israeli lawmaker as saying.

    Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Knesset (Parliament) member and former Arafat's advisor, said that "in the end, if he (Arafat) is not buried today or tomorrow in East Jerusalem, a day will come when there is a sovereign Palestinian government, a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, and Yasser Arafat will be buried in the mosque of Al Aqsa."

    Israel strongly opposes burying Arafat anywhere in Jerusalem andits environs.

    The Palestinian side had demanded that Arafat be buried in or near Al Aqsa, on the compound Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuaryand Jews hold sacred as the Temple Mount.

Young Yasser Araft. (Xinhua file photo) Arafat bid farewell to his people in Palestine. 75-year-old Palestinian leader Arafat left Amman's military airport aboard a French plane at around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) Friday on his way to Paris for medical treatment. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    Arafat's bureau director, Tayeb Abdul Rahim, indicated in Ramallah Tuesday night that the Palestinian leadership had decided to bury Arafat in his compound, the Muqata, in the West Bank city of Ramallah and turn it into a mausoleum for Arafat, making it his final resting place until circumstances allow him to be buried in Jerusalem.

    Israel's security cabinet will reportedly meet Wednesday morningto discuss Arafat's funeral arrangements.

    Sources concerned said that Israel will not oppose a burial in Ramallah if the Palestinian National Authority asks for it, although Israel would prefer that Arafat be buried in the Gaza Strip. Enditem