Yasser Arafat

The squat tomb sits in dignified quiet, decked in gleaming white Jerusalem stone on a slope soon to be carpeted green by 25 species of trees and shrubs. A two-story prayer hall and 98-foot minaret stand guard nearby, completing a memorial complex for the late Yasser Arafat that is tranquil, stately and well-ordered. It is, in other words, pretty much everything his tumultuous reign as Palestinian leader was not.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas inaugurated a mausoleum built over Yasser Arafat's grave in Ramallah and vowed to press on with his predecessor's drive for a Palestinian state. Abbas, who is preparing for a peace conference with Israel in the U.S., said he hoped Arafat's wish to be buried in Jerusalem would be realized, along with the Palestinians' dream of making East Jerusalem their capital.

A memorial rally for Yasser Arafat on Monday erupted in gunfire between Hamas forces and followers of the rival Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, leaving at least six people dead and 30 injured. It was the worst violence between the two Palestinian factions since Hamas routed Fatah in a military-style takeover of the coastal territory in June.

When the campaign for Palestinian parliamentary elections kicked off this month, it seemed only fitting that Fatah, the nationalist movement Yasser Arafat helped found nearly half a century ago, chose to hold its inaugural rally at his tomb. Fourteen months after Arafat's death, the iconic leader still casts a long shadow over Fatah's political fortunes.

HAMAS' VICTORY in the Palestinian elections last week is widely seen as discrediting President Bush's desire to spread democracy. Actually, the electoral triumph of this pro-terrorist, anti-Western movement offers more evidence for the failure of the cynical approach that the United States pursued before Bush came into office -- a pseudo-realistic policy of using supposedly benign dictators to repress Islamic extremists.

Dallas 95, at Detroit 90: Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points for the Mavericks. The Pistons' Ben Gordon shot one for 16 and missed a potential tying three-point try with two seconds left. Clippers 101, at Oklahoma City 93: L.A. ended a three-game skid. Houston 101, at Lakers 91: Aaron Brooks outscored Kobe Bryant, 33-18.

Khaled Meshaal's diatribe against the reaction of the West to Hamas' victory (Opinion, Feb. 1) misses the point. The West applauds free and open elections; whether the results were what the West would have liked is not the point. With victory comes the responsibility of governance. Hamas sought to join the community of nations, and now it has. With that comes the responsibility of behaving in a manner consistent with the international rule of law. Demanding the elimination of a country and encouraging terrorism are not consistent with that role.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has signed a deal to publish his memoir -- a close-up look at his encounters with major world figures and events. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning statesman says "a lot has been said and written" about his 10 years as secretary-general, but now he will finally get to tell his own story. The book will feature accounts of the 71-year-old Ghanaian diplomat's interactions with world figures, including George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein, Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat.

The Associated Press is digitizing and has begun to release a "treasure trove" of historical film footage from the 1960s and '70s that had been sitting in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's former World War II headquarters in London. The archive includes color film recordings of a young Yasser Arafat, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi immediately after taking power, Richard Nixon with Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Fidel Castro meeting Latin American and Eastern European leaders, as well as a young Saddam Hussein in Paris.

One day last week, as Mahmoud Abbas was campaigning in the Gaza Strip, an aide accidentally pressed a button that rolled up the window of his armored car. The heavy glass sliced off the tip of a finger on Abbas' right hand. The 69-year-old candidate gamely delivered his rally speech as scheduled, and only then did he go to a hospital for treatment.