Arafat: Cairo ready for funeral

2004-11-10 21:37

Cairo - The funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could take place in Cairo on Friday if he dies by then, the veteran leader's chief aide, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said on Wednesday.

"If the president were to die in the next few hours, as his doctors say he might, the official funeral will be held in Cairo on Friday, in the presence of Arab and Muslim kings, princes and heads of state who wish to take part," he said.

Arafat is fighting for his life in a military hospital in a Paris suburb.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian foreign minister said Arafat's brain was working only partially because of haemorrhaging, and all his organs except for heart and lungs "are not functioning well".

But Nabil Shaath insisted that Arafat's condition had not changed since Tuesday.

"Yesterday, in Paris, I said that his heart is still working, his lungs are still working" and that only part of his brain was function because of haemorrhage.

"Everything else is not functioning well," Shaath told reporters outside the office of caretaker leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Shaath said he would fly to Cairo later on Wednesday. - AP/ AFP

 

   

 

- News24