NZ special envoy to attend Yasser Arafat's funeral

New Zealand will send a special envoy to attend the funeral of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said today.

New Zealand Ambassador to Turkey Jan Henderson will attend the military funeral in Cairo on Friday (Egypt time) along with dignitaries from around the world, a spokesman for the minister told NZPA.

Following the funeral Mr Arafat's body will be taken to Ramallah in the West Bank to be buried.

Mr Arafat died yesterday in a hospital in Paris at the age of 75.

- NZPA