RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinians prepared for the death of their leader Yasser Arafat, making plans for his funeral and burial as well as laying the groundwork for his succession.
Earlier reports that his death could be announced during the day were swept aside by a barrage of statements from Palestinian officials at Arafat`s side in a French hospital, saying the ailing 75-year-old was still clinging to life.
"Like yesterday he is in a deep coma with complications in the condition of all his vital organs, so he is in a very critical state. The reality is that he is in the hands of God," said Palestinian envoy to France Leila Shahid.
"He is alive. He is ill and his condition is very bad, but he is still alive," Tayssir el-Tamimi, head of Islamic courts in the Palestinian territories, told reporters.
"I remained at Arafat`s side for almost one hour and I asked God to relieve his suffering," said the cleric, who flew to France earlier Wednesday to visit Arafat at the Percy military clinic outside Paris.
Tamimi`s presence fuelled rumors that an announcement of Arafat`s death was imminent, but he ruled out switching off life support systems, saying such a move ran contrary to the precepts of Islam.
"There is no question of switching off the equipment. It is against Islamic law which bans this type of practice. As long as there is warmth and life in his body, we cannot switch off the equipment," Tamimi said.
The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, said Arafat had to die naturally, telling reporters: "Even if it takes days, weeks or months, it doesn`t matter. It`s not a political question."
But at Arafat`s battered Muqataa headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, senior Palestinian officials paved the way for his succession and finalized plans with Israel and Egypt for a Cairo funeral and Ramallah burial.
Top Palestinian officials agreed after an urgent meeting that parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh would serve as acting head of the Palestinian Authority in the event of Arafat`s death, in accordance with the basic Palestinian law.
He would likely serve as a caretaker administrator for 60 days, after which new elections must be held.
The Palestinian Authority also accepted an offer from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to hold an official funeral ceremony for Arafat in Cairo, to be followed by burial in Ramallah, as per an agreement reached with Israel.
"The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) executive committee and the (Fatah) central committee agreed unanimously that the funeral would be in Cairo if Arafat dies and that he will be buried in Ramallah," the head of Arafat`s office, Tayeb Abdelrahim, told AFP.
Egyptian presidential spokesman Maged Abdul Fattah said the Cairo ceremony would be "limited in scope and restricted to officials".
In Ramallah, two bulldozers, a mechanical digger and four heavy dump trucks were seen inside the Muqataa, clearing wrecked cars and some of the rubble strewn across the compound, an AFP correspondent reported.
Workmen were planting saplings in the courtyard, the correspondent said.
"Israel made it known to us a few minutes ago that the Israeli government agrees to a Palestinian request to bury president Arafat in the Muqataa," said negotiations minister Saeb Erakat, confirming comments from Israeli officials.
Palestinian security services would be responsible for keeping order in the West Bank town, while Israeli forces would beef up security around Ramallah, according to Israeli officials.
Arafat has always wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, the city Palestinians yearn for as the capital of their promised future state, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has steadfastly refused to countenance the idea.
Outside the Muqataa, several hundred students staged a rally in support of Arafat, brandishing portraits of the man who has personified the struggle for Palestinian statehood for 40 years and wearing his trademark keffiyeh scarf.
"The goal is to show our solidarity with the president," said 18-year-old political science student Lana Faqrieh.
"We believe he is still alive, and if he were to go, he would live on forever as a symbol."
Arafat was airlifted from Ramallah on October 29 suffering from an undiagnosed blood disorder and slipped into a coma a week ago. His condition deteriorated further late Monday, according to his French doctors.
11/10/2004 - 18:57 GMT - AFP