Palestinian factions call for calm

A Palestinian policeman watches two young boys as they walk past portraits of ailing leader Yasser Arafat, outside the Muqataa, Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday. The death of Arafat, who has been lying in a coma in a French hospital for a week, was expected to be announced at his West Bank headquarters following a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee. PHOTO: AFP

The factions unanimously decided to "call on the Palestinian people not to fire into the air or set fire to tyres in the streets," said Khaled al-Batsh.

Warning Palestinians against obstructing streets, they urged the people to refrain from attacking public property and shops, and to behave responsibly, he added.

The decisions were taken late Tuesday at a meeting on the necessary arrangements should Arafat, who has spent the last week in a coma in a French military hospital, be declared dead.

The groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Arafat's Fatah party, also decided that condolence ceremonies would be held in the leader's Gaza City headquarters.

On Saturday, prime minister Ahmed Qorei urged Palestinians not to allow themselves to be dragged into internecine warfare should Arafat die.

Palestinian leaders began a joint meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Fatah central committee here Wednesday as Yasser Arafat lay fighting for his life in France.

Sources inside the Muqataa, Palestinian leader Arafat's leadership compound, confirmed that the meeting had begun with former prime minister Mahmud Abbas in the chair.

Current premier Ahmed Qorei and foreign minister Nabil Shaath were also attending the meeting, the sources added.

Abbas, Qorei, Shaath and parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh all returned to the West Bank in the early hours after visiting Arafat at his hospital bedside in a military hospital on the southwestern outskirts of Paris.

After the joint Fatah-PLO meeting, the most senior members would also be joined by leaders of other Palestinian factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at around 1:00 pm (1100 GMT).

Apart from being briefed on Arafat's condition, committee members were also expected to decide on an offer by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to host a funeral in Cairo in the event of Arafat's death.

The Palestinian representative in Paris, Leila Shahid, said Wednesday that Arafat was still alive but in a deep coma and his fate was "in the hands of God".