"PLO chief hails 'eternal' Arafat"

PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas marked the end of 40 days of mourning Tuesday with lavish praise for the "eternal" Yasser Arafat, vowing the Palestinian patriarch would one day be buried in his beloved Jerusalem.

"No words of homage are sufficient to commemorate his memory," Abbas said in a speech inside Arafat's old West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah, known as the Muqataa, as thousands of supporters gathered in the courtyard outside.

"Arafat led our people to the doorstep of liberty and independence. Abu Ammar (Arafat) remains eternal in the minds and collective memory of our people and the Arab and Islamic people," he added. Abbas, favourite to succeed Arafat as Palestinian Authority president, echoed one of Arafat's most famous refrains by pledging: "The day will come when a child raises the flag of Palestine from the walls of Jerusalem."

Full Article : dailytimes.com.pk