Arafat's body heads towards Ramallah resting place

Yasser Arafat’s funeral service began with humble prayers today and ended with an almost triumphant procession, his wooden coffin set on a gun carriage and draped in the Palestinian flag, preceded by a military band in scarlet and followed by a crowd of presidents and kings.

After the high-security funeral rites, the Palestinian leader’s body was being flown to the West Bank to be placed in a tomb being built at the Ramallah compound where was kept a virtual prisoner in his final years.