UPDATED: BURYING ARAFAT

Israel: Gaza only option for burial
Israel will permit Yasser Arafat to be buried in the Gaza Strip, but keep him out of Jerusalem, a city "where Jewish kings are buried and not Arab terrorists," Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid said Friday.

The top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, Ikrema Sabri, said Friday that Arafat asked to be buried in the holy city, marking the first official comment on the ailing Palestinian leader's burial wishes.

Palestinian leaders hope to enlist international support for an Arafat burial at the Jerusalem mosque compound, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity. Negotiations with Israel would only begin after Arafat's death, the official said.

Lapid reiterated Friday that Jerusalem is off-limits. "They (the Palestinians) will choose where to bury him, but he will not be buried in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried and not Arab terrorists," he told Associated Press Television News.

SEE ALSO: CNN, via Daily Report, says that Arafat is being kept 'alive' by machines. I think he's already dead. As discussed below, there are good reasons why the PLO mafia is delaying the announcement of his death. They're fighting over his hidden billions and his power. But there's another reason. Muslim custom - not that Arafat was very religious - requires that he be buried within 24 hours of death. Maybe he is being kept 'alive' while people figure out were to bury him.