Muslim worshippers offered funeral prayers for Yasser Arafat Friday morning at Al-Jala'a mosque in new Cairo. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a large number of Arab and Islamic leaders as well as Farouk Kaddoumi, the newly chosen leader of the Fatah organization, and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the PLO executive committee, were among those who attended the funeral prayers. After the high-security funeral rites, aired live on Egyptian television, Arafat's body was to be flown to the West Bank and placed in a tomb being built at the Ramallah compound. All media except state-run television were barred from the mosque and a tent where most dignitaries sat through the funeral prayers. "He has served his people all his life, until he faced his God, with courage and honesty. Let us pray for his soul," the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar Mohammed Sayed Tantawi told the gathered dignitaries. Throughout the ceremony Egyptian television played Quranic recitations, including a verse: "After hardship, ease." --MORE 1252 Local Time 0952 GMT
