Husseini buried in Jerusalem

Arafat has led the mourning for Husseini

JERUSALEM -- Hundreds of people lined the streets of East Jerusalem to pay their respects to senior Palestinian official Faisal Husseini.

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.

AUDIO CNN's Jerrold Kessel: Husseini was one of the most important Palestinian leaders 647kb/60secs. AIFF or WAV sound     GALLERY Images from Husseini's funeral     ALSO An emotional and mostly peaceful ceremony Husseini death 'a blow for peace'

"Jerusalem was liberated today!" the Associated Press quoted Adnan Husseini, a senior Palestinian official and relative of the deceased as saying. "I can say that what happened today in Jerusalem is unprecedented."

But an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israeli forces were simply avoiding friction.

"Nobody has conquered Jerusalem," said Raanan Gissin. "The security forces are there. They are just not visible, and as long as the procession is not violent, they won't be needed."

The body was taken to Orient House, the Palestine Liberation Organization's unofficial headquarters in East Jerusalem, which Husseini helped set up, before a funeral procession through the walled Old City to al-Aqsa Mosque on Haram as-Sharif.

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.

Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, is on the site revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and dispute over sovereignty there is a key sticking point in stalled Israel-Palestinian negotiations.

The Israeli Supreme Court refused to hear a petition from a right-wing Jew seeking to block the burial at the site, saying it did not want to inflame passions.

Husseini, a moderate voice

Earlier Friday, Arafat accompanied Husseini's family to bring his body back from Jordan.

As the casket draped in a Palestinian flag was carried off the helicopter on the shoulders of eight Palestinian officers, Arafat saluted and said: "To heaven, you, the beloved of martyrs."

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.