Palestinian leader Arafat dies at 75
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat, 75, the leader who passionately
sought a homeland for his people but was seen by many Israelis as a
ruthless terrorist and a roadblock to peace, died early Thursday in
Paris.
"The last two days were very painful, very difficult
days," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, who confirmed
Arafat's death Thursday morning. "And now, after these painful days of
President Arafat, he is dead."
Arafat had been sick with an
unknown illness that had been variously described as the flu, a stomach
virus or gallstones. He flew to Paris October 29 seeking medical
treatment and was hospitalized with what Palestinian officials said was
a blood disorder.
He had been on a respirator since slipping into a coma November 3.
A hospital spokesman said he died at 3:30 a.m. Thursday (9:30 p.m. Wednesday ET).
Arafat's body will be taken from France to Cairo, where the Egyptian government will host a state funeral for him, Erakat said.
He will be buried outside the Palestinian Authority headquarters compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Arafat's family had wanted him buried in Jerusalem, but the Israeli government forbade that.
"Jerusalem
is the city where Jewish kings are buried, and not Arab terrorists,"
Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said last week.
Erakat vowed that the grave in Ramallah would be temporary.
"One day, we will have our own independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital," he said.
Erakat
called it "heartbreaking" that Arafat died before achieving his goal of
an independent Palestinian state, "and the Israeli occupation of our
land has not finished yet." But he said Arafat managed to preserve
Palestinian national identity during decades without statehood.
U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State William Burns will officially represent
the United States at Arafat's funeral, a senior State Department
official told CNN.
Other U.S. officials may attend as private citizens, but not as government representatives, the source said.
For
five decades, Arafat -- adorned with his trademark checkered kaffiyeh
-- was the most prominent face of Palestinian opposition to Israel and
the push for a Palestinian state, first as the head of the Palestine
Liberation Organization, which carried out attacks against Israeli
targets, and later as the leader of the quasi-governmental Palestinian
Authority after parts of the West Bank and Gaza were returned to
Palestinian control.
His death leaves no clear immediate successor in the often fractious world of Palestinian politics.
Under
the Palestinian Authority's basic law, the speaker of the Palestinian
parliament, Rawhi Fattuh, will replace Arafat as Palestinian Authority
president on an interim basis, and elections are to be held within 60
days.
During Arafat's illness, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei has
been in charge of the Palestinian Authority, while former Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas has led the Palestine Liberation Organization's
executive committee.
The president holds office for five years and can stand for re-election once.
Arafat
was first elected head of the PLO in 1969, and by 1974, Arab leaders
recognized the group as "the sole legitimate representative" of the
Palestinian people.
In 1994, Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, along with Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for
their work on the Oslo accords, seen at the time as a breakthrough
toward an independent Palestinian state and a permanent peace with
Israel. Yet a decade later, Arafat died without seeing his dream of a
Palestinian homeland come true.
At a summit at Camp David,
Maryland, in 2000, Arafat decided to turn down a U.S.-brokered deal
offering Palestinians control of most of the occupied Palestinian
territory. Three months later, intense fighting broke out between
Palestinians and the Israeli army.
Expressing his condolences in
a statement, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "I regret that in
2000 he missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray
for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a
better life will be realized." (Reaction)
After
taking office in 2001, President Bush refused to meet with Arafat and
insisted that reform and new leadership within the Palestinian
Authority were prerequisites for the creation of an independent state.
In a statement, Bush called Arafat's death "a significant moment in Palestinian history."
"We
express our condolences to the Palestinian people," he said. "We hope
that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their
aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace
with its neighbors."
Israel -- in retaliation for increased
terrorist attacks on Israeli civilian targets -- severely restricted
Arafat's movements, confining him to his West Bank compound in Ramallah
in December 2001.
Continuing violence, along with corruption and
economic problems, raised questions at home and abroad about Arafat's
ability to lead the Palestinian Authority.
In 2003, under
pressure from the United States and members of his own Cabinet, Arafat
appointed Abbas to the new position of prime minister, a move designed
to decentralize power. But Abbas resigned less than six months later,
saying he didn't have enough support to do the job.
In July,
Arafat announced a program designed to unify security forces and tackle
corruption after his frustrated second prime minister, Qorei, also
tried to resign.
Arafat is survived by his wife, Suha Tawil, whom he married in 1991, and their daughter, Zahwa, who was born in 1995.
Edited by Kubrat