CAIRO, Egypt – Fathi Arafat (search), the brother of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and founder of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, died Wednesday. He was 67.
Arafat died at 5:20 p.m. at the Palestine Hospital in suburban Cairo, where he had been receiving treatment for stomach cancer, said Mae Arif, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (search). Arafat, a physician, was the hospital's director.
In New York City, Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Kidwa (search), the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, mourned his death.
"He was not only an uncle but he was a friend, a personal friend I think," al-Kidwa said.
Arafat had been suffering from stomach cancer for about four years and has had two operations in the past three years. Last month, a hospital official said the cancer had spread throughout his body.
Arafat quit his position as chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent three years ago, but stayed on as honorable chairman. The Red Crescent is the Muslim version of the Red Cross. Arafat was also a senior member of Fatah, the Palestinian Liberation Organization's political movement.
Arafat is survived by his wife, Nadia, and two grown children. His funeral will be held Friday at Cairo's Armed Forces mosque and he will be buried in Egypt, according to his relatives.
His brother, Yasser Arafat (search), 75, died Nov. 11 in Paris and was buried at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
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