RAMALLAH, Nov 10: The screech of bulldozers shifting heaps of rubble and twisted metal littered around Yasser Arafat's headquarters shattered the late afternoon calm, in the first sign of preparations for his eventual burial.

From the rooftops of the surrounding houses and buildings, a growing army of international press and curious onlookers looked on as the bulldozers and heavy earth-moving equipment fought to try to clear the piles of debris surrounding the Palestinian leader's headquarters.

Beyond the rough stone walls of the compound, bulldozers were seen shovelling tonnes of wreckage onto the back of at least four heavy trucks which then dumped the debris in a growing pile in a corner.

Multiple army incursions have left this 3,000-square-metre compound a monument to destruction, with only Mr Arafat's living quarters and office block left standing.

Until bulldozers started to work in apparent preparation for the 75-year-old's burial, much of the wreckage had been left untouched as testimony to the destructiveness of the Israeli military machine.

"They will build a mosque to Abu Ammar (Arafat) here," said Musa Baasem Ala, who was working on a building site.-AFP