CAIRO -- Egypt said Wednesday it will host the official funeral of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who is dying in a Paris hospital.
"Egyptian authorities are making preparations and arrangements to hold Arafat's funeral in Cairo," government spokesman Majed Abdel Fatah told reporters.
"We hope a miracle could happen and President Arafat would recover, but we are taking all possibilities into consideration and the funeral will be held here while burial will take place in Ramallah."
Official sources told UPI the funeral would be held at the seat of the Arab League in the Egyptian capital, after which the body would be transferred to Ramallah in the West Bank for burial.
"Consultations between the Egyptian government and Palestinians took place in the past days and it was agreed to hold the funeral in Cairo to make it easy for Arab leaders to attend," the sources said.
Palestinian sources expected Arafat's death to be announced officially Wednesday. The Palestinian leader entered a deeper stage of coma and suffered a brain hemorrhage.
