Palestinians make plans for Arafat funeral

WITH Yasser Arafat in "the final phase of his life", the Palestinian leader's political heirs completed his burial arrangements yesterday and made plans for a funeral as soon as tomorrow.

An Islamic cleric read from the Koran at the Paris military hospital bedside of the 75-year-old symbol of the Palestinian cause, who was in a deep coma, on life support, with bleeding in the brain and problems with other vital organs, officials said.

Palestinian leaders accepted an offer from Egypt to host the main funeral in Cairo - a site less problematic for foreign dignitaries - before Mr Arafat is buried at his sandbagged headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.