No resting place here

Yasser Arafat lay critically ill with liver failure on Sunday and some aides said his condition was so bad he might be moved to Egypt, from ...

Yasser Arafat lay critically ill with liver failure on Sunday and some aides said his condition was so bad he might be moved to Egypt, from where he could be flown home more quickly if he died. Israel, meanwhile, completed preparations to bury the Palestinian President in the Gaza Strip 8212; a move that would contradict Arafat8217;s stated desire to be buried in Jerusalem.

Back home, Palestinian leaders, in his absence, adopted a plan to restore order in their areas.

8216;8216;He has liver failure. His condition is not improving,8217;8217; said a Palestinian official in the West Bank. Doctors have ruled out leukaemia but remain puzzled why Arafat8217;s health deteriorated sharply last week at the Paris hospital, where he has been having tests since he was flown from the West Bank on October 29.

Israel has finalised plans for Arafat8217;s burial in the Gaza Strip. But, the Palestinian leader wants to be buried in Jerusalem8217;s Old City, which is holy both to Muslims and Jews. Israeli officials, however, refuse to let him lie in land which Israel calls part of its indivisible capital and which it annexed after the 1967 war.

8216;8216;The defence establishment has completed preparations for an Arafat funeral in Gaza,8217;8217; sources quoted Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz as telling Sunday8217;s Cabinet meeting. 8216;8216;The moment we receive a Palestinian Authority request on the matter, we will implement final preparations.8217;8217;

Arafat8217;s father is buried in the Gaza Strip. Burying him there would suit Israel as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to withdraw all troops and settlers from the occupied territory next year. Palestinian officials said another option might be the West Bank city of Ramallah.

In Ramallah, Arafat8217;s fellow leaders decided to carry out a plan to restore order in the West Bank and Gaza, a minister said. It was the first major decision they have announced since he left.

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Officials said the plan was drafted in March and is more concerned with ending local lawlessness than reining in militants. Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said the National Security Council decided to 8216;8216;implement a plan to restore the rule of law in the Palestinian territories8217;8217;. Militants will be banned from carrying arms except when confronting Israel and stopped from intervening in local disturbances.

Briefing Israel8217;s Cabinet, Mofaz said there were signs that Palestinian leaders were trying to curtail violence. 8216;8216;There are indications that they are trying to close ranks and stop Hamas terrorism, but there is no way of knowing if this will succeed8217;8217;.