Many Palestinians in this West Bank city were yet to wake up when the news of their leader Yasser Arafat's death broke out early morning on Thursday.

"We are so sad with the passing away of Arafat, the most beloved of ours in the world, and our sorrow is undescribable, " said Abdel Salama, a young soldier at the gate to Arafat's headquarters compound in Ramallah.

In tears, the young man in his twenties, was guarding a compound, the wall of which were pasted with pictures of Arafat, who died on Thursday in a French Hospital at 0230 GMT.

People in Ramallah were seen walking towards the compound over which flags were flying half-mast.

"Mr. Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, died at Percy Military Training Hospital in Clamart on Nov. 11 at 3:30 am (0230 GMT)," said General Christian Estripeau, spokesman for the health department of the French Defense Ministry.

The funeral will be held on Friday in Cairo, Egypt, after his body is airlifted from France.

After the memorial service, Arafat's body will be flown to Ramallah that he left less than a week ago for treatment.

Arafat had been confined in his headquarters by Israeli soldiers for three years.

Source: Xinhua