Friday, November 5, 2004
Israel reaffirms opposition to Arafat burial in Jerusalem
Press Trust of India Jerusalem, November 5
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday reaffirmed that he would block moves to bury Yasser Arafat in Jerusalem, public radio reported amid conflicting reports over whether he had died.
"As long as I am in power, and I have no intention of leaving, he (Arafat) will not be buried in Jerusalem," public radio quoted Sharon as telling a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
A team headed by Sharon's private secretary, Israel Maimon, has drawn up a report to explain the premier's refusal and why such a burial would be unpopular in the country as a whole.
In the past, Arafat has said that he would like to be buried in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City, considered the third holiest site for the world's Muslims, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
But the site is also home to the Temple Mount, the most holy place in Judaism.
Palestinians see Jerusalem as a fitting final resting place for a man who has dedicated 40 years of his life to the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel media reported that Arafat had died in a Paris hospital but the reports were denied by Palestinian officials and French medical officials treating the veteran Palestinian leader.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.