Egypt, where Yasser Arafat began his political life and where biographers say he was born, is preparing a funeral for the Palestinian president.
An army helicopter carrying Mr Arafat's coffin took off from the Paris hospital a short time ago, ferrying the body to a military airfield from where it will be flown to Cairo.
The body of Mr Arafat, symbol of Palestinian aspirations since the 1960s, will arrive by French military plane around 11 p.m. tonight (8 p.m. Irish time) and spend the night at nearby Gala military hospital in readiness for the funeral tomorrow, security sources said.
Arab and Muslim heads of state and government, as well as foreign ministers from Europe and other continents, will take part in the military funeral procession, which is expected to start at a mosque near Cairo airport, official sources said.
The body will leave the hospital at 8 a.m. and Egyptian officials said mourners would probably say prayers for the Palestinian leader at the nearby King Faisal mosque.
Mr Arafat, who had been in a military hospital in France for two weeks, would then be moved to the airport and laid in front of the presidential terminal to receive delegations, they added.
A Foreign Ministry official said Mr Arafat's body would later be flown by helicopter to the West Bank town of Ramallah, where he is due to be buried on Saturday.
World leaders expected to attend the Cairo ceremonies include South African President Thabo Mbeki, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.
Ireland will also send a senior political representative.
The prime ministers of Pakistan and Sweden are expected to attend, as well as foreign ministers from France, Germany, Britain, Bulgaria, Iran, Denmark and Turkey.
The United States, which has refused to deal with Mr Arafat for the past two-and-a-half years, is expected to send Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, reflecting Washington's view that Mr Arafat was a "failed leader" who clung to power too long.
Mr Arafat will be buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah, but in a concrete coffin that could be moved later to Jerusalem, a top Palestinian cleric said.
The measure is seen as a way to get round Israel's refusal to let the Palestinian leader be buried in Arab East Jerusalem, the site of his choice, which Israel annexed and regards as part of its capital in a move never recognised internationally.
After initially insisting on a Gaza Strip burial site for the icon of Palestinian nationalism, Israel defused tension with Palestinian leaders by agreeing to let him be buried at the site of his battered headquarters in Ramallah, known as the Muqata.
