Emotional Palestinian Followers Say Goodbye To Arafat

It was hard for some of Yasser Arafat's closest aides to say goodbye as the Palestinian leader was buried in Ramallah, at his West Bank compound where he lived for the last three years of his life.

Arafat died Thursday at a Paris hospital. He was 75. Neither his doctors nor Palestinian leaders have said exactly what killed him.

Chaos broke out as the helicopter carrying Arafat's casket arrived from a memorial service in Cairo. Palestinians swarmed the helicopter, and then surged forward, with people trying to touch the coffin as police climbed on top of it. It took 25 minutes for authorities to open the door and remove the casket.

The flag-draped coffin was carried from a helicopter and through a sea of emotional Palestinians. Followers were hugging, crying and firing into the air. Several emotional supporters cried out, "Welcome, welcome old man!"

Palestinian police also fired their guns into the air in an effort to maintain control as the coffin was carried to the burial site.

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi told The Associated Press that Arafat would have wanted to see the kind of emotional outpouring that accompanied the arrival of his coffin.

The scene prompted a change in plans. There was supposed to be a stately ceremony, with Palestinian officials filing past his coffin. Instead, Arafat was quickly laid to rest.

Ashrawi said of Friday's scene, "The people reclaimed him." As she put it, "They wanted to say goodbye without distance."

A young electrician who worked on the lighting outside Arafat's compound captured the emotion of the day, saying "this is not an easy thing for the Palestinian people."

By nightfall, the earlier chaos had given way to calm as mourners streamed past Arafat's marble-and-stone shrine that was marked with his trademark black-and-white headdress.

Palestinians said they'll honor Arafat's request by burying him in Jerusalem in the future. A checkered head scarf arranged the way Arafat wore his is planted on a stick at the grave.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Cabinet minister said he "expected much better" at Arafat's burial.

As the car carried Arafat's body to the gravesite, police jumped on top of it and fired shots in the air to move the crowd back. Mourners shoved to get near the casket while chanting "With our blood and our soul we will redeem you, Yasser Arafat!"

As Arafat's body was then lowered into the grave, Muslim clerics read verses from the Quran, and Arafat's bodyguards wept and embraced each other.

Once Arafat was buried, mourners surged toward the tomb and trampled olive tree saplings that were put there according to Islamic tradition.

The crowd vastly outnumbered security personnel that tried desperately to keep the crowd back in an area that was supposed to be empty.

Buildings and windshields in the West Bank and Gaza were plastered with Arafat's photo and the colors of the late leader's Fatah movement.

Two people trampled in the melee were carried off on stretchers.

For hours, hundreds of Palestinian police tried to keep the crowd back. But mourners were able to break through gates and climb over walls.

A car bomb exploded just a few miles from Arafat's Ramallah compound as the helicopter brought Arafat's body to the city for burial.

Israeli television reported that two Palestinians were seriously wounded in the explosion near a university in Ramallah.

Ceremony, Security Mark Arafat Funeral

Heavy security, humble prayers and a military procession including kings and presidents marked the final farewell to Arafat.

There was also his veiled widow, Suha, and their rarely seen 9-year-old daughter, Zahwa, who wept as a band dressed in scarlet played the Palestinian and Egyptian national anthems at a military airfield in northern Cairo early Friday morning.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the heads of the Fatah organization and the PLO executive committee were in the front row of about 60 world leaders and other dignitaries who marched in a procession behind the casket.

The band played a funeral dirge and a high-stepping honor guard carried wreaths. Throughout the ceremony, Egyptian television played Quranic recitations.

Hamas Leader Appears At Cairo Service

The leader of Hamas has made a rare public appearance at a highly publicized event.

The Palestinian militant group's leader, Khaled Mashaal, attended Friday's funeral service in Egypt for Arafat. On Thursday, he accused Israel of poisoning the Palestinian leader, a claim Israel denies.

He has recently kept a low profile since Israeli officials renewed threats to target Palestinian militant leaders. A Hamas spokesman said the Hamas figure will soon talk to new Palestinian leaders over how to run Gaza after a planned Israeli withdrawal.

Leaders Remember Arafat

Leaders from around the world are remembering Arafat as the symbol of the Palestinian struggle.

Arafat "embodied the Palestinian national aspiration," said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He praised the Palestinian leader for showing the "courage" to accept that there must be two states living side-by-side in peace.

Although some disagree over whether to praise or condemn him, nearly all say both Israelis and Palestinians should use his death as a springboard to resume talks.

Annan said the best way for Palestinians to honor Arafat's legacy would be to engage the Israeli government and people to make that solution a reality.

He also said the quick election of Abbas to succeed Arafat at the top of the Palestine Liberation Organization is an encouraging sign of the orderly transfer of power.

A group of Jewish leaders said Arafat's death opens an opportunity for peace.

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Biography: Yasser Arafat
Fact Sheet: Life At A Glance
List: Dignitaries Attending Funeral

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The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said Arafat was unable to make the transition from terrorist to statesman. The group said his death could bring about new Palestinian leadership that would put an end to terrorism.

The conference, made up of the leaders of 52 Jewish organizations, said Arafat's decisions deprived the entire region of the prospect of a better future. In a statement, it said, "We hope that the Palestinian people will demand a leadership that will put their interest first."

British leaders, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Minister Jack Straw, expressed their condolences for the Palestinian leader by promising to continue to work for peace.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder credited Arafat with trying to lead the Palestinians to independence. He said he regrets that "it was not granted to Yasser Arafat to complete his life's work."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Palestinians have suffered a heavy loss. He called for the international community, Israel and the Palestinians to redouble peace efforts.

President George W. Bush called the death of Arafat "a significant moment in Palestinian history." Bush said in a statement that the United States expresses its condolences to the Palestinian people and its hope that the future will bring peace.

The president also said he hopes for an "independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors."

On Wednesday, Bush said he was hopeful about Middle East peace negotiations with new Palestinian leaders. He said peace would be possible only when the Palestinian leadership stepped forward to say, "Help us build a democratic society."

Bush said when that happens, the United States will be "more than willing" to help the Palestinians achieve their dream of statehood.

Bush always shunned Arafat, refusing to invite him to the White House. He sent Secretary of State Colin Powell to talk to Arafat in the West Bank. Eventually, those contacts dwindled and were cut off when the Bush administration concluded Arafat was inept and had not done enough to stop attacks on Israel.

In the United States, Middle East experts and others hope peace in the region will be more possible now that Arafat is gone.

Former president Jimmy Carter, who helped negotiate a Mideast peace deal in 1978, said he hopes Palestinian leaders learn from Arafat's experiences.

In a statement released Thursday, Carter said the death of the longtime Palestinian leader marks "the end of an era." He said he hoped the new Palestinian leadership will push ahead to "forge a Palestinian state living in harmony" with its Israeli neighbors.

Robert Satloff, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said flatly that Arafat was "a significant obstacle." Dennis Ross, who spent a decade as the United States' peace negotiator in the Middle East, agreed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Middle East peace efforts could now be reinvigorated. But it said that depends on the United States changing its focus to help "free the Palestinian people from Israeli occupation."

Daniel Pipes, of the Middle East Forum, predicts anarchy in the Palestinian territories will continue, because, "If you don't have gunmen, you don't count."