RAMALLAH, Thursday, February 23, 2023 (WAFA) - With the participation of President Mahmoud Abbas, an official funeral was held today at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah for the former prime minister, former speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, a former member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Fatah Central Committee, Ahmad Qurei (Abu Alaa) who died yesterday at age 85.

President Abbas bid farewell to the late leader and laid a wreath on his coffin.

The official funeral ceremony was attended by the President of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein al-Sheikh, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, members of the PLO Executive Committee, the Fatah Central Committee, and the Fatah Revolutionary Council, along with members of the leadership, ministers and governors, leaders of the security services, and family and relatives of the deceased.

The coffin was carried on the shoulders when it arrived at the presidential headquarters and passed in front of the honor guards while playing the Palestinian national anthem.

The body was then taken to Abu Alaa’s hometown of Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem, to be buried there.

Qurei served as the first Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Palestinian parliament in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, elected in 1996. In 2003, he served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority until the 2006 elections. He joined the Fatah movement in 1968 and became a member of its Central Committee and also a member of the PLO Executive Committee.

M.K.