Arafat is laid to rest

Palestinian mourners created a chaotic scene.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Yasser Arafat was buried today in the West Bank headquarters where he had been held a virtual prisoner.
Muslim clerics read Koranic verses after the Palestinian leader's body was lowered into a marble-and-stone grave, security officials said. The burial took place amid a chaotic scene of tens of thousands of mourners surging toward his coffin and police firing wildly into the air to hold them back.
The helicopter carrying Arafat's body was swarmed by thousands of emotional Palestinian mourners when it landed, and police struggled to hold them back by firing in the air.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Omar Suleiman, Egypt's director of intelligence, tried to emerge from the helicopter, but were kept back by the huge crowd that had broken through the walls of the site hours earlier to pay their final respects to the man who embodied their dreams of statehood.
The coffin, wrapped in the red, white, green and black Palestinian flag, was removed from the helicopter and carried through the surging crowd.
Security forces in a jeep charged through the crowd to clear a path to the helicopter's door as officials pleaded with people to stand back. Medical crews with stretchers ran into the compound, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties from the crush or shooting.
The scene
As Arafat's helicopter landed after a state funeral in Egypt attended by leaders and dignitaries from about 60 countries, the crowd cried out "Welcome, welcome Abu Ammar!" using his nom de guerre. "Welcome, welcome old man!"
Armed policemen had tried for several hours to keep people back, but mourners, eager to get close to Arafat's gravesite, pushed their way through. Police in green berets scrambled to keep people off the helicopter landing pad.
Buildings and windshields in the West Bank were plastered with Arafat's photo and people waved black and white scarves, the colors of the late leader's Fatah movement.
Militants
Before the Jordanian helicopters arrived, a line of militants carrying swords and rifles, their heads wrapped in black and white keffiyehs, marched through the crowd.
The masked gunmen strode into the compound, ignoring calls from official Palestine TV not to carry arms or mask faces, as is common in Palestinian funerals during times of crisis. However, the gunmen calmly submitted to inspection by plainclothes security personnel who ensured there were no bullets in the chambers.
The cooperation between militants and policemen was a likely reflection of Palestinians' desire for consensus in the wake of Arafat's death.
In Gaza City, hundreds of people gathered on rooftops, streets and apartment balconies in hopes of catching a glimpse of the helicopter. Barred from attending the burial, tens of thousands of Gaza residents held rallies and symbolic funerals across the strip.
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