Funeral arrangements for latePalestinian leader Yasser Arafat will change if necessary withregard to the security of leaders and representatives attending thefuneral ceremony, an Egyptian official told Xinhua late Thursday.

The praying ceremony for Arafat will start on Friday morning inthe mosque inside the al Jalaa military hospital in Cairo's Heliopolis district, where his body will be kept for a night afterarriving in Cairo, said the official who declined to give his name.

After the funeral ceremony, the body of Arafat will be sent tothe al Jalaa military club nearby and Egyptian President HosniMubarak will preside the military funeral.

Following the funeral, Arafat's body will be carried to the alMazaa military base in eastern Cairo and airlifted to his batteredheadquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for burial, where hehad been confined by Israeli forces for nearly three years.

Egypt has tightened security around the Cairo InternationalAirport and blocked nearby main roads for the security of thefuneral service.

More than 50 countries have so far declared to send representatives to pay their last respects to Arafat.

Arafat, 75, died at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Thursday at a Frenchmilitary hospital, where he had received medical treatment sinceOct. 29.

Source: Xinhua