CLAMART, France - A top Islamic cleric rushed from the West Bank to Yasser Arafat's hospital bedside today in what an aide to the Palestinian leader called the "final phase" of his life.

"I'm here to be by my longtime friend's side in his time of need and to pray for his speedy recovery," the cleric, Taisser Bayoud Tamimi, told The Associated Press by phone shortly before arriving at the hospital.

"It's absolutely rejected," he shouted outside the hospital when asked by reporters if the life support would be turned off, saying it would remain on as long as there were signs of life.

But aides said Arafat's health was deteriorating, with a "complication" to his vital organs as doctors struggle to stop the bleeding in his brain.

The Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid, had insisted in an interview with France-Info radio that Tamimi was not coming "to disconnect" Arafat from life support.

"It is clear, as for a Christian, as for a Jew, that a religious man needs to be with his patient when he is in the final phase of his life," Shahid said. "That is why he is here."

On Tuesday, doctors said Arafat's coma had deepened and his caretaker government chose a burial site and began preparing for a funeral.

Shahid told France-Info that he was still "in a deep coma" this morning, but added there was a "complication in the state of all of his vital organs."

He was therefore "in a critical state," she said. "The reality is that he is in the hands of God."

At a news conference in Ramallah late Tuesday, Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said doctors were trying to relieve bleeding from a severe brain hemorrhage, which can cause brain damage.

A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said today that French doctors told the Palestinian delegation that this kind of bleeding meant that Arafat's death was expected within 24 hours - a period that has since passed.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Tamimi, "a very close friend" of Arafat's who heads the Islamic court in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, was not coming to give advice on removing Arafat from life support.

Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, decided that when the time comes, they would bury Arafat at his sandbagged West Bank headquarters, known as the Muqata, in Ramallah, and turn it into a shrine, defusing a potential conflict with Israel by dropping a demand for a Jerusalem burial.

The Israeli Cabinet today approved that plan and has relayed the decision to the Palestinians, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

Egypt offered to host the main funeral in Cairo - a site less problematic for foreign dignitaries - before a Ramallah burial.

The Palestinian parliament speaker will become temporary president of the Palestinian Authority in the event of Arafat's death, PLO leaders decided today.

The decision appeared to end attempts by some officials to change Palestinian law that provides for the speaker to be president for 60 days, until new elections are held. Some feared the current speaker, Rauhi Fattouh, a backbencher, would not be up to the job.

In approving Fattouh, the leaders sidestepped the tougher issues of succession.

Arafat controlled three top jobs - head of the PLO, of Fatah and president of the Palestinian Authority. A decision on who would head the PLO and Fatah - and become Arafat's successor - will only be made after Arafat's death, said Zaki.

The top contender is the PLO's No. 2, Mahmoud Abbas, who has been acting as caretaker leader, along with Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

As Palestinian Authority president, Arafat kept a tight grip over most of the powers in the administration. But during Arafat's health crisis, Qureia has taken some authority over financial and security issues - and it is likely he would overshadow Fattouh.

Shaath was part of a delegation led by Qureia and Abbas. The group returned to the West Bank early today after a 24-hour visit.

Palestinian officials had been denied access by Arafat's wife, Suha, who used France's strict privacy laws that give authority to the family.

Shaath said a dramatic disagreement with Arafat's wife, who had accused the visiting Palestinians of trying to topple their longtime leader, had been smoothed over and that she embraced delegation members during their two-hour visit to the hospital.