MIDDLE EAST: ISRAELI MINISTERS GATHER AT KNESSET, ALLOW PRESIDENT ARAFAT OF PALESTINE TO BE BURIED IN RAMALLAH. / CROWDS GATHER AT ARAFAT COMPOUND IN RAMALLAH.

Record ID: 400496

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: ISRAELI MINISTERS GATHER AT KNESSET, ALLOW PRESIDENT ARAFAT OF PALESTINE TO BE BURIED IN RAMALLAH. / CROWDS GATHER AT ARAFAT COMPOUND IN RAMALLAH.
  • Date: 10th November 2004
  • Summary: (W4) JERUSALEM (NOVEMBER 10, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. TRACK: ISRAELI FINANCE MINSTER BINYAMIN NETANYAHU WALKING INSIDE KNESSET (PARLIAMENT) 0.15 2. PAN: ISRAELI INTERIOR MINISTER AVRAHAM PORAZ WITH KNESSET MEMBERS IN LOBBY. 0.23 3. TRACK: KNESSET MEMBERS WALKING IN. 0.31 4. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI INTERIOR MINISTER, AVRAHAM POR
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA3D6YB4Q8DWZH0RWE6PA2M2P0G
  • Story Text: Israeli Minister says burial of Palestinian
    President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah approved.



    An Israeli minister said on Wednesday (November 10)
    Israel would allow Palestinians to bury their leader in the
    West Bank city of Ramallah.

    Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz said the
    Palestinian Authority would be responsible for the burial
    procedures and the Israeli army would cordon the city and
    allow Israelis to attend the funeral.

    "When the Palestinians decided that the burial will be
    held in Ramallah. It is their decision. We just have to
    take care that there will be no violence. Actually, the
    responsibility for the security in the Ramallah region is
    in the hands of the Palestinian Authority," Poraz said
    after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and top Israeli cabinet
    members agreed to the request during a special cabinet
    meeting in Jerusalem.

    Israeli political sources said ministers decided to
    allow Arab leaders and other foreign dignitaries free
    access to Ramallah but would bar Palestinian militants
    waging a four-year-old uprising from entering the city.

    Much of the West Bank is under Israeli occupation.

    The decision was made despite objections from some
    military chiefs who said a funeral in the West Bank, which
    is largely under Israeli occupation, would pose a security
    threat.

    Some Palestinian officials had said they expected that
    Arafat, who has been in a coma in a French hospital, could
    be declared dead as early as Wednesday.

    Arafat was confined to his shell-battered compound by
    Israeli troops for the last 2 1/2 years. It has became a
    symbol of the Palestinian leader's struggle for statehood.


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