Husseini

There Husseini was buried in a small cemetery for Palestinian notables, including his father, a legendary fighter killed in the 1948 war that followed creation of the state of Israel.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat led the procession in honor of Husseini, a central figure in the struggle for Palestinian statehood, as it left the West Bank town of Ramallah heading for his final resting place.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel said there were unusual scenes in Jerusalem with usually strict checkpoint police standing aside to allow the procession through -- despite an eight-month ban on West Bank residents.

On the streets of East Jerusalem, which Husseini had dreamed would one day be the capital of a Palestinian state, Israeli police were virtually absent and young Palestinians took over crowd control and directing traffic.

The casket had been in the Jordanian capital, Amman, overnight after being flown from Kuwait, where Husseini died of a heart attack Thursday.

Arafat has described the death of Husseini, a top PLO official and minister for Jerusalem affairs, as a terrible loss.

Husseini's activities in the PLO date back to the early 1960s. In the 1980s, after spending several years in Israeli jails and under house arrest, he became active in trying to foster coexistence with the Israeli people.

However, his positions hardened during the current Israeli-Palestinian clashes which have claimed over 500 lives -- the vast majority Palestinian -- since September and he was in Kuwait to take part in a seminar on freezing normalization with Israel when he died.

Arafat has linked Husseini's death to the violence saying his health was affected by Israeli tear gas. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's office quickly denounced the accusation as "preposterous and baseless" and a "sheer lie."

Arafat appeared to be referring to a May 16 incident in the West Bank when Husseini was among 200 West Bank Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel who faced tear gas from Israeli security forces trying to disperse them.

At the time Husseini was taken to a nearby clinic and treated for tear gas inhalation.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians lined the streets of East Jerusalem on Friday as the body of Faisal al-Husseini was brought for burial to the city he hoped would become the capital of a Palestinian state.

Faisal al-Husseini
1940-2001

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"The Palestinian people today lost one of their most prominent leaders and strugglers, who never gave up the fight despite exile, occupation or siege."