WEST BANK/ISRAEL: PALESTINIANS WAIT FOR OFFICIAL WORD AND ISRAEL DISCUSSES BURIAL SITES AS PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFATS DEATH APPEARS CLOSER THAN EVER

Record ID: 400069

  • Title: WEST BANK/ISRAEL: PALESTINIANS WAIT FOR OFFICIAL WORD AND ISRAEL DISCUSSES BURIAL SITES AS PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFATS DEATH APPEARS CLOSER THAN EVER
  • Date: 9th November 2004
  • Summary: (U2) NABLUS, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 09, 2004) (REUTERS) (NIGHTSHOTS) 1. SEVERAL THOUSAND PALESTINIANS MARCHING IN STREETS, HOLDING POSTERS OF AILING PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT; VARIOUS OF GUNMEN SHOOTING IN AIR 0.21 2. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING AND CHANTING IN SUPPORT OF ARAFAT (4 SHOTS) 0.49 (U2) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 10, 2004) (REU
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NABLUS AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA8AIJPD9ZSO4F5KBKVHDDWUKPN
  • Story Text: President Arafat's death appears closer than ever:
    Palestinians wait for official word, Israel discusses
    burial sites.


    Palestinians prepared on Wednesday (November 10) for
    what appeared to be the inevitable death of their
    president, an icon of the fight for a Palestinian state.

    Arafat, 75, suffered a brain haemorrhage on Tuesday
    (November 9) at the hospital where he was flown from the
    West Bank on Oct. 29 and had lain in a coma. Officials
    insisted in public that he was alive, though aides said
    privately that he was dead.

    At night fall on Tuesday, when the president's death
    appeared closer than ever, several thousands took to the
    streets of the West Bank city of Nablus to show their
    support for their ailing president. Gunman shot assault
    rifles in the air as others marched peacefully holding
    pictures of their leader.

    In Ramallah, where Arafat was confined by Israeli
    troops for the past 2-1/2 years, the media installed extra
    communications links to be able to beam pictures worldwide.

    Reporters for the world over prepared for an official
    statement by the Palestinian leadership scheduled for
    0800gmt. Arafat's guards remained devoted to the protection
    of the gates of his shell-battered headquarters which
    became a symbol of of the Palestinian cause.

    In Jerusalem, Israeli security was on high alert as
    tension gained momentum in the city holy for both Jews and
    Muslims, particularly due to controversy revolving around
    the burial site for Arafat. Arafat had said he wanted to be
    buried in Arab East Jerusalem. Israel ruled out his burial
    on the land it annexed after the 1967 war in a move not
    recognised internationally.

    Late Tuesday, Palestinian youths chanting Yasser
    Arafat's name threw stones and bottles at Israeli police in
    Arab East Jerusalem during an all-night prayer session for
    the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

    Palestinians awaited official word of their leader, the
    symbol of their struggle for independence, amid fears his
    death would plunge the West Bank and Gaza Strip into
    further chaos after a four-year uprising against Israel.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened an early
    morning security cabinet meeting to discuss burial site
    options for Arafat.

    After ruling out the burial in the holy city of
    Jerusalem that Arafat wanted, Israeli officials had said
    they wanted him interred in the Gaza Strip. But political
    sources said they might lift objections to Ramallah.

    Israel accuses Arafat of fomenting violence and shunned
    him of any potential future negotiations, labelling him
    irrelevant.


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