Thousands of Palestinian mourners, overrunning security forces, stormed late Yasser Arafat's walled compound on Friday.  (Xinhua/AFP photo)

Thousands of Palestinian mourners, overrunning security forces, stormed late Yasser Arafat's walled compound on Friday.

Palestinian police have tried to keep the growing crowd back from the walls of the compound, but at one point, mourners managed to break through gates and climb over walls, raising security problems, they said.

Arafat was to be buried at the compound later Friday. His coffin was flown out from Cairo to Ramallah on Friday morning after a funeral service held in Egypt's Al-Jalaa military compound, some 5 km away from the Cairo International Airport, which was attended by world leaders and representatives from some 80 countries and organizations.

Palestinian officials appealed to the crowd to move back from the gates.

Despite the chaos, a marching band lined up in one corner of the compound for a drill, ahead of the burial, according to media reports.