In pictures: Arafat's 40-day mourning

1 of 9 Forty days have past since the death of Yasser Arafat and Palestinians have been holding traditional 40-day wakes for their late leader.

2 of 9 Many mourners have visited Arafat's grave in the West Bank town of Ramallah to pay their respects.

3 of 9 The tomb itself - in a corner of Arafat's Muqata compound - has been glassed in and turf laid around it.

4 of 9 Prayers were said at the Muqata conference centre near a large poster of Arafat superimposed over Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock shrine.

5 of 9 Members of the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jewish group Natori Karta - long-time allies of Arafat - made the trip to Ramallah.

6 of 9 Elsewhere in the West Bank there were noisy demonstrations by militants from Mr Arafat's Fatah organisation.

7 of 9 As they mourn Arafat, his militant supporters also throw their weight behind Mahmoud Abbas as his successor.

8 of 9 The 40-day mourning has also been marked in Gaza - although the ceremonial was more muted.

9 of 9 A gloomy mood also prevails in the besieged Palestinian town of Bethlehem, just days before Christmas - the supposed highpoint of the year in Jesus' birthplace.