Thousands of Palestinians mourned the loss of two of their leaders in a joint funeral Monday that was one of the largest Palestinian gatherings to be held in east Jerusalem in recent years.
The two men buried were Sheikh Sa’ad a-Din al-Alami, the mufti, or senior Moslem clergyman, of Jerusalem, and Anwar al-Khatib, who was governor of Jerusalem during the Jordanian regime.
Al-Alami, who was also the head of the Supreme Moslem Council, responsible for the religious affairs of all Moslems in the administered territories, died Saturday of a heart attack.
Al-Khatib, who continued to serve as the unofficial representative of King Hussein after Israel conquered Jerusalem in 1967, died Sunday.
The double funeral began with prayer services at the Al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount and was attended by some 1,500 worshippers, including representatives of the Christian community.
The two Palestinian leaders were buried in a special plot at the northern entrance to the Temple Mount, next to the grave of Anwar Nusseibeh, a former Jordanian defense minister.
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