PARIS, Nov 11 (AFP) - A French government plane carrying Yasser Arafat's body left Paris late Thursday for Cairo, where representatives from around the world were to attend a funeral service for the deceased Palestinian leader.
The officially marked white Airbus jet took off from a military airport on the outskirts of the French capital after a solemn ceremony in which Arafat's flag-draped coffin was taken to the aircraft by a French honour guard.
A smaller jet carrying French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier took to the air from the same airport moments later also headed to Egypt.
Barnier was to represent France at the funeral service scheduled for Friday just ahead of Arafat's burial in his West Bank headquarters of Ramallah.
11/11/2004 16:39 GMT - AFP