Egypt on Thursday announced a three-day morning for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who passed away earlier in the day at a French military hospital.

Egypt is expected to hold a short and official funeral service for Arafat on Friday at the Cairo International Airport, where Arab and world leaders will come and pay their last respects to the late Palestinian leader.

Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, graduated from an engineering school in the city, and forged close ties with the Egyptian government during his struggle to win Palestinian independence.

Egypt is also a major player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, having signed a 1979 peace treaty with Israel and often mediating between Palestinians and the Israeli government.

Arafat, 75, died at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Thursday at the Percy military hospital in the southwestern suburb of Paris, where he had been treated for a blood disorder during the past two weeks.

Source: Xinhua