A Palestinian woman carries posters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat yesterday at his "muqata" compound where he is to be buried in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Palestinian leader died in a French hospital yesterday.---Reuters

Thousands of Palestinian refugees expressed grief over the demise of their veteran leader Yasser Arafat, as they took to the street in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus late Thursday.(Photo: Xinhua)

A child lights a candle to pay condolence to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Nov. 11, 2004. Thousands of Palestinians went to the Muqata headquarters to mourn for the Palestinian leader who passed away in Percy Military Hospital in Paris, France at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) on Thursday at the age of 75. (Xinhua Photo/Gao Xueyu)

Thousands of Palestinian refugees expressed grief over the demise of their veteran leader Yasser Arafat, as they took to the street in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus late Thursday.

Chanting slogans and uplifting pictures of Arafat as well as Palestinian flags, people, many of them women, marched along an arrow street of the refugee camp.

Marchers condemned Israel for being responsible for Arafat's death due to what they said a long siege imposed on his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Wearing black and white Taffies (scarves) typical of Arafat's, people flashed "V" signs as the late leader used to do. In the crowd, a boy, raised by two adults on the shoulders, held high a tommy gun. Nothing did he say, solemnity and firmness were shown on the face.

"Arafat is a revolutionary leader, who had never given up the right of refugees to return home," middle-aged Mohammad Abu Zahir told Xinhua.

"Palestinian offsprings will continue his unfinished cause till the establishment of an independent Palestinian state," he said. The Yarmouk camp, the largest in Syria, houses nearly 25,000 refugees and the total number in Syria is estimated to reach 500,000.

Nearly 3.5 million Palestinians have fled home in five Middle East wars and continuous conflicts between the Palestinians and Israel. The issue of refugees is one of thorny issues to be solved by the two sides.

Arafat had won support among refugees as he had stood firmly on the right of the return of refugees.

"The demise of Arafat is a great loss to us," said 23-year-old Hazif Rasilan from Ramallah.

Echoing Rasilan's remarks, Tahsin Jabil Yesin said, "Although Arafat is dead, he is still with us in our hearts." Meanwhile, people in the refugee camp expressed support to a new Palestinian leadership that was sworn in on Thursday and stressed the importance of unity of the Palestinian people and steadfastness in fight against an Israeli occupation.

Rage was running high in the rally, as many believed that Arafat might be poisoned by Israel.

On Thursday, Khaled Mashal, the exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) told the al-Jazeera TV channelthat Israel had poisoned Arafat, a move which led to his death, an allegation strongly denied by Israel.