Abbas vows to follow Arafat’s footsteps
Middle East Desk Report

RAMALLAH (West Bank)—Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Friday pledged to continue in the footsteps of his late predecessor Yasser Arafat in creating a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.
“I renew my commitment to continuing the road he began and for which he made a lot of sacrifices, until the Palestinian flag flies from the walls, minarets and churches of Jerusalem,” Abbas told a crowd of thousands in the West Bank.
“We must continue the march together in keeping with the principles for which Abu Ammar (Arafat) became a martyr,” he added. On the first anniversary of Arafat’s death in a Paris hospital aged 75, thousands flocked to Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah to remember the man who guided their struggle for statehood for four decades.
Abbas, who was elected president of the Palestinian Authority two months after Arafat died, also promised that his mausoleum would one day be transferred to Jerusalem, where the late leader longed to be laid to rest.
“Abu Ammar did not dream of a palace in Palestine but a tomb in Jerusalem and he will be buried in Jerusalem God willing,” he said. Abbas, accompanied by prime minister Ahmed Qorei, began Friday’s anniversary commemorations by laying the foundation stone for a new museum-mosque-mausoleum complex for Arafat in the Muqataa compound.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered near Yasser Arafat’s grave in his old West Bank compound on Friday for a subdued commemoration of their iconic leader’s death exactly one year ago.