Veteran Palestinian chief dies

A former speaker of the Palestinian parliament in exile, Sheikh Abdul-Hamid Sayeh, has died in Jordan from natural causes.

He was more than ninety years old died.

Sheikh Abdul-Hamid, a close ally of Yasser Arafat, was expelled from east Jerusalem when the Israelis seized it in 1967. He later served as Jordan's religious affairs minister. In a tribute, the Palestinian leadership said he had devoted his whole life to defending Palestinian rights and protecting Jerusalem. A Palestinian diplomat said Israeli permission was being sought to bury him in the city.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service