Chinese vice president mourns Arafat's death at Palestinian embassy

Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong went to the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing Thursday evening to mourn the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Zeng, accompanied by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, expressed condolences on behalf of the Chinese government for Arafat's death,who was also chairman of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The 75-year-old Arafat was announced dead at Percy Military Hospital outside Paris in France at 3:30 a.m. (0230GMT) local time Thursday.

Zeng laid a wreath before Arafat's portrait at the embassy. Zeng wrote in the message book there that Arafat was a great leader and an outstanding politician for Palestine.

Palestinian Ambassador to China, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, thanked the Chinese government for its sympathy. He also highly praised the Chinese government and Chinese people for their consistent support to Palestine.

High-ranking officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture, the Beijing Municipal Government and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) also joined Zeng to express condolences at the embassy.

Earlier Thursday, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a letter of condolences to Rawhi Fattuh, speaker of the Palestine Legislative Council. Hu also sent Vice Premier Hui Liangyu as his special envoy to fly to Cairo, Egypt, Thursday afternoon to attend Arafat's funeral.