Arafat's coffin arrives in Ramallah

The body of the Yasser Arafat has arrived in Ramallah – the compound where he spent two years blockaded in by the Israeli army.

The Palestinian leader, whom Tony Blair described as having "symbolised the Palestinian national movement", is expected to be buried in a stone coffin inside his ruined compound before sunset.

The interment in Ramallah takes place following a ceremony in Cairo this morning where heads of state and international political leaders – including Foreign Secretary Jack Straw – paid their final respects.

Following the service at a mosque in the Cairo suburb Heliopolis, the entourage processed behind a gun carriage containing Arafat's flag-covered coffin at al-Maza airbase.

The national anthems of both Palestine and Egypt were played as the coffin was put on board a plane bound for the West Bank.

In the long term, Palestinian officials want to bury Arafat - in accordance with his wishes – at Temple Mount in occupied east Jerusalem, however, the Israeli government has voiced its opposition to this.

The 75-year-old Palestinian leader died at a French military hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning. He is understood to have died from a brain haemorrhage after slipping into a coma on November 3. A 40-day period of mourning will be observed during which time interim leaders will be appointed and elections organised.

Arafat's health deteriorated sharply last month and he was forced to leave his Ramallah compound on October 29 to seek treatment in a French hospital for a "low blood platelet count". However, the exact nature of his illness – and his physical condition in the final days – were dealt with only in the most ambiguous terms by Palestinian officials. At one stage, Mr Arafat was said to be in a "reversible coma".

The militant group Hamas added to the confusion when it claimed that Arafat had in fact been poisoned by Israeli agents. The allegation was immediately rejected by Palestinian officials.

(gmcg)