Rabbi and Muslim shake hands

AT a solemn vigil outside the hospital treating Yasser Arafat, a remarkable, poignant moment of peace: a Jewish rabbi and a Muslim prayer leader shaking hands and extending hopes for the Palestinian leader’s recovery.

Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedmann travelled from Vienna to show his support, while Kamel Titouhi came from a local mosque where he had led prayers for Mr Arafat’s recovery.

The two men met at what has become a small shrine to Mr Arafat beside the main gate of the modern military training hospital outside Paris, where he has been treated for a week and now lies in a coma.