Tears flowing for Arafat amid Mideast uncertainty

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians at home and abroad wept, waved flags and burned tires Thursday in an eruption of grief at the death of Yasser Arafat, the man they consider the father of their nation. The quick appointment of successors did little to dispel the huge question marks now hanging over Mideast peace efforts.

Although Arafat's death at 75 led some world leaders to talk about the possibility of a new era, the outlook was also shadowed by fears of a chaotic transition and a strengthening of Islamic militants.

The burial arrangements in themselves showed how disrupted the region is. The international funeral was to be held in Egypt, because few Arab leaders would travel to Israeli-controlled Palestinian land; Arafat was to be buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah because Israel refused to approve interment in Jerusalem; and most mourners from the Gaza Strip would be barred from traveling across Israeli territory to Ramallah, a security official said.

Workers in Cairo scrambled to lay new carpet and mow the lawn at a small mosque near the airport where dozens of foreign dignitaries will honor the Palestinian leader in a modest ceremony this morning, before Arafat's body is flown to Ramallah for a burial service.

In France, where Arafat died before dawn Thursday after 13 nights in a Paris military hospital, eight pallbearers carried his flag-draped coffin past an honor guard Thursday evening as a military band played the French and Palestinian national anthems and a Chopin funeral march.

Arafat's widow, Suha, stifled sobs as the coffin was transferred from a French military helicopter to the official French airplane heading to Egypt.

Though it had been expected for several days as he fell into a coma, Arafat's death stunned Palestinians and left them wondering who could possibly replace their leader of the past four decades.

Arafat had not anointed a successor, but within hours the Palestine Liberation Organization elected former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to replace him as its new chief, virtually ensuring he takes over as Palestinian leader, at least for now.

The Palestinian legislature also swore in Speaker Rauhi Fattouh as caretaker president of the Palestinian Authority, the self-ruling power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, though that position will likely have far less power than when Arafat held it. Fattouh is to serve for 60 days until elections can be held, though the law may be amended to allow parliament to choose the new president.