AS Palestinians mourned the death of Yasser Arafat, a charity worker from Preston who met him just weeks before his death says he felt "privileged to meet a legend".

Bilal Patel, 35, of Frenchwood Avenue, was part of a 35-strong delegation from Preston to visit the ailing Palestinian leader in September. Mr Arafat died at the age of 75, last week, at a military hospital in Paris.

He was the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the 1970s which used terrorism with the aim of achieving an independent Palestinian state.

He later renounced terrorism after signing a peace deal with Israel and was president of the Palestinian Authority.

While many Palestinians regarded him as a hero who never gave up the fight for an independent state for his people, to most Israelis he was simply a terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.

"I was shocked when I heard he had gone into hospital and was very sick," said Mr Patel, who works for the Media Education Network which aims to inform people about ethnic minorities.

"He seemed healthy and in good spirits in September," said Mr Patel. "But he was pale and you could tell he was a frail old man.

"I remember him saying he wanted people to know how the holy sites were being destroyed in the current conflict, not just Muslim sites, but Christian and Jewish buildings as well.

"He had to live in quite bad conditions. Most of the rubble at his compound had been cleared away but you could still see bits of metal and masonry hanging down, and Arafat stayed in a re-built section.

"When we saw him it was obvious he commanded respect and awe from his own people, when he spoke everyone was silent, no-one interrupted him.

"I felt proud and grateful that I was able to meet such a legend, listening to him speak was very captivating."

Mr Arafat was buried at a compound in Ramallah, in the West Bank, where he had been held under siege for three years by Israeli forces.