Sharon denies Arafat's burial request

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that Yasser Arafat will not be permitted to be buried in Jerusalem if he dies.

The Palestinian leader has said he wants to be buried at the Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.

But Sharon said that would not be allowed.

“As long as I am prime minister, Arafat won’t be buried in Jerusalem,” he told a Cabinet meeting today, according to participants.

Israel has marked a possible burial site for Arafat in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis, in the West Bank, security officials said.

Though hard-line ministers at the meeting asked Sharon to refuse to allow Arafat back into the West Bank, the premier said he was sticking by the commitment to allow Arafat to return from France, where he was undergoing medical treatment.