No Cairo funeral for Arafat
2004-11-08 23:14
Cairo - Egypt denied on Monday an Israeli press report that plans have been drawn up to hold an official funeral for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Cairo.
The report in Israel's top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily stated that Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians have agreed to hold an official funeral for Arafat in Cairo, followed by a private burial service in the Gaza Strip.
"This information is incorrect," said a high-ranking official, who requested anonymity.
The paper said the plans had been drawn up in recent secret talks between the Israeli and Egyptian governments and Palestinian Authority officials.
Holding a funeral ceremony in the Egyptian capital, as opposed to one in Gaza, would allow Arab leaders to attend without subjecting them to Israeli security checks at the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the paper said.
During the three-way talks, Israel again totally opposed a Palestinian request to allow Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem, something the ailing leader had requested in the past, Yediot Aharonot reported.
Egyptian presidential spokesperson Maged Abdul Fattah also denied reports suggesting that plans were underway to transfer Arafat to Egypt.
"President Arafat's current health condition does not allow him to be transferred and therefore, the issue was not discussed," he told reporters.
He refused to comment on fears that the Palestinian territories could descend into chaos in the event of Arafat's sudden death, saying "that is an internal matter".