RAMALLAH (AP) - Poet Mahmoud Darwish, who gave a voice to the Palestinians' longing for independence, was buried Wednesday in a pomp-filled ceremony fit for a head of state.

Thousands marched behind the casket, draped in a Palestinian flag and covered with wreaths, as it was driven through Ramallah in a black pickup truck. Uniformed officers sat to either side of the casket and many in the crowd waved Palestinian flags. Huge posters of Darwish were draped across Ramallah's main square.

"We feel a huge loss. We feel we have lost a symbol," said civil servant Mohammad Abdel Rahman, 50, as he watched the procession pass through the main square.

Abdel Rahman said he wasn't much of a reader, but was familiar with Darwish poems that had been set to music and sung by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalifah.

Darwish, 67, died Saturday following heart surgery in a Houston hospital. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a mourning period of three days, and flags were lowered to half-staff at government offices in the West Bank.

On Wednesday morning, Darwish's body was flown in a Jordanian air force helicopter from Amman, Jordan, to a memorial service at Abbas' government compound in Ramallah.

Addressing a crowd of some 500, including foreign diplomats and a small group of Israeli peace activists, Abbas eulogised the poet as a "pioneer, a leader and a teacher".

Darwish was buried next to Ramallah's Cultural Palace, where he frequently gave poetry readings to overflow crowds. A plot was prepared for him in a grass-covered area ringed by palm trees, an honour guard fired a 21-gun salute, and the building was renamed the Darwish Cultural Palace.

In the past year, Darwish had expressed growing concern about internal Palestinian fighting and the split between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Abbas-controlled West Bank. Hamas leaders issued a statement of condolence earlier this week, but there was no sign of government-sponsored mourning in Gaza.

Some Gaza residents said they were disappointed they could not attend the ceremony. "Mahmoud Darwish, we will remember your words forever," said Rajai Abu Daka, sitting in a Gaza City coffee shop and watching the funeral, broadcast live on Palestine TV.

Darwish's poetry has been translated into more than 20 languages and he won numerous international awards. He first gained prominence in the 1960s with the publication of his first poetry collection, "Bird without Wings". Many of his poems have been put into music - most notably "Rita," "Birds of Galilee" and "I yearn for my mother's bread" - and have become anthems for at least two generations of Arabs.

He wrote an additional 21 collections. The last, "The Impression of Butterflies", was published this year.

Darwish was born in Birweh, an Arab village near Haifa that was destroyed in the 1948 Mideast war that led to Israel's creation. He joined the Israeli Communist Party after high school and began writing poems for leftist newspapers.

Darwish left Israel in the early 1970s to study in the former Soviet Union, and from there he travelled to Egypt and Lebanon. He joined the Palestine Liberation Organisation, but resigned in 1993s in protest over the interim peace accords that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed with Israel. Darwish moved to Ramallah in 1996.

Emotional farewell in Amman

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The atmosphere was as heavy as lead when body of deceased Palestinian poet was brought into a special hall at Marka Airport for a brief mourning ceremony before he was flown to the West Bank city of Ramallah for a state burial.

The plane touched down at the military airport at 10:00am before members of the Palestinian Liberation Army carried the coffin into the honouring hall.

There, Palestinian, Jordanian and Arab dignitaries were waiting to pay their last respects to the poet, whose work has become a symbol of resistance, not only for Palestinians but Arabs.

Wrapped with the Palestinian flag, Mahmoud Darwish’s coffin was flown on board an Emirates Airline from Texas, where he died following complications that resulted from a major heart surgery.

The body was received by HRH Prince Ali Ben Nayef, who deputised for His Majesty King Abdullah, who called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day to express sympathies with the Palestinian people over their loss.

King Abdullah said that Darwish immortalised in his poems the struggle of the Palestinian people and drew the world’s attention to the Palestinians’ long march towards liberation and independence.

Among the attendees at yesterday’s ceremony were representatives of the Arab League, senior Jordanian and Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who accompanied the body on its way from Amman to Ramallah on board a Jordanian military helicopter.

Minister of Culture Nancy Bakir was the first to take the podium as she expressed sorrow over losing the iconic Palestinian figure after she was given the floor by Yasser Abed Rabo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive office. Khalid Karaki, president of the University of Jordan, and former minister of culture, gave an emotional speech, representing Jordanian intellectuals and men of letters.

Relatives and friends of Darwish were present at the honouring ceremony, including renowned Lebanese singer and composer Marcel Khalifa, who sang parts of a song written by Darwish that have become a symbol of resistance in this politically volatile region. Khalifa sang his hit "Ahen", shared by an emotional audience.

"This is a very hard moment today. Mahmoud, I love you more and we will still love you," said Khalifa after bidding farewell to his friend.

The poet had made his home in Ramallah since returning in the 1990s from a long exile during which he rose to prominence in the PLO. His life and words were tightly bound up in a struggle for a Palestinian national rebirth that seems little closer now than when his first work was published in 1960.