Mr Arafat was seen as a father figure to many Palestinians

While his critics saw him as a terrorist, to many Palestinians he was a father figure who symbolised their cause for four decades.

At the Palestinian Delegation to the UK's headquarters in west London, political counsellor Husam Zomlot opened the doors to find flowers on the doorstep.

He said they had been received phonecalls, faxes and emails expressing condolences "from Southampton to Dundee".

"We were always clinching for a full recovery despite hearing all along [his health] was deteriorating. We were full of hope until the very last second," said Mr Zomlot.

Grief and personal loss

He said he was grieving for the loss of "a protector and...someone who really inspired me for all of my life. There was some level of insecurity like a child who lost a father".

The delegation has opened a book of condolences which will be available to sign over the next three days.

In Edgware Road, central London, which has a large Middle Eastern community, barber Ahmed Wans, from Cairo, was saddened by the news. He also saw the Palestinian leader as the father of his people.

I think it's bad news because you don't know what will happen after. It will be hard to find someone like Yasser Arafat Yasser Jamiel, restaurant worker UK tributes led by Blair

"He suffered all his life to help his people. Everyone in Palestine felt he was their father because he helped give people money to study abroad. The people don't know what they will do without this president."

A few shops away, Palestinian Yasser Jamiel, 27, was coming to terms with the news during the morning shift at a halal restaurant.

He said: "I'm upset. I think he was the first man [to stand up] for the Palestinian people after Ahmed Yassin. He did a good job. I think it's bad news because you don't know what will happen after. It will be hard to find someone like Yasser Arafat."

It's time to feel sad for the man and to express gratitude Mahmoud Hawari, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is organising a candlelit vigil for Mr Arafat in Trafalgar Square, London, from 1730 GMT on Thursday and similar events are being organised across the UK.

In Oxford, Dr Mahmoud Hawari, 51, said the general feeling was very sombre and one of sadness at the death of the man who took the Palestinian cause from "oblivion" to the international stage.

"He struggled all his life for the cause of Palestinian national liberation," he said.

"It's time to feel sad for the man and to express gratitude, to remember him and celebrate the life he dedicated to the Palestinian people.

"There are quite a lot of mixed feelings among people. I spoke this morning with someone who wasn't very fond of Yasser Arafat and his policies, but he was very sad [to hear of his death].

"I think it's a great loss for all of us because he was a symbol of the Palestinian people and a symbol of their struggle for national liberation."