JERUSALEM, Oct 28 (AFP) - A leader of Israel's far-right National Union party demanded a pre-emptive government announcement Thursday that ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could not be buried in Jerusalem.
Benny Elon, a former tourism minister in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's governing coalition, made the demand in a meeting with Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra, a party colleague told AFP.
Arafat's official biography claims the head of the Palestinian Authority was born in Jerusalem but most experts believe he was born in Egypt 75 years ago.
A recently-leaked internal Israeli foreign ministry document warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were likely to march on Jerusalem for the funeral of their veteran leader and stage mass demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of the territories.
The Palestinian Authority could completely collapse in such a scenario which would likely end in a situation of "total anarchy", the document added.
10/28/2004 13:27 GMT - AFP