The coffin of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is carried by the guard of honour during a ceremony of paying last respects to the remains of Arafat at Villacoublay military airport in Paris, Nov. 11, 2004. The A319 plane which carries the remains of Arafat has left Paris for Cairo.  (Xinhua Photo)

Suha Arafat, widow of Yasser Arafat cried at the airport in Paris. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Suha Arafat (C), widow of Yasser Arafat, walks off a French government plane at International Airport in Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 11, 2004. (Xinhua Photo)

Coffin of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrives at the International Airport in Cairo Nov. 11 2004.  (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The body of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was flown at the Cairo International Airport Thursday night from France, where he was declared dead earlier in the day, a Xinhua correspondent said.

A white Airbus A-319 of the French presidency carrying the coffin of Arafat landed at the airport, and Egyptian First Lady Susan Mubarak and senior Egyptian officials walked to winding stair and shook hands with Suha Arafat, widow of Yasser Arafat.

Egyptian security sources said that a funeral will be held in a mosque near the airport Friday morning, adding that prayers and military ceremonies would take place before the body was taken to Ramallah for burial.

The decision to hold the memorial ceremony in Cairo will make it easy for Arab leaders to pay their last respects to Arafat without setting foot on the Israeli-controlled lands and for guards to protect world dignitaries who are due to attend the funeral.

Arafat, who was born in Cairo in 1929, graduated from an engineering school in the city, and forged close ties with the Egyptian leadership during his struggle to win Palestine's independence.

Arafat, 75, died at 3:30 am (0230 GMT) Thursday at the Percy military hospital in the southwestern suburb of Paris, where he had been treated for a blood disorder since Oct. 29.

Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and has then played a key mediating role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.