Editing Gamal Abdel Nasser (section)

== Death and funeral ==

{{main|Death and state funeral of Gamal Abdel Nasser}}

[[File:Nasser's Funeral Procession.png|thumb|right|alt=Throngs of people marching in a thoroughfare that is adjacent to a body of water|Nasser's funeral procession attended by five million mourners in Cairo, 1 October 1970]]

As the Arab League summit closed on 28 September 1970, hours after escorting the [[Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah|last Arab leader to leave]], Nasser suffered a heart attack. He was immediately transported to his house, where his physicians tended to him. Nasser died several hours later, around 6&nbsp;p.m. at age 52.<ref name="Nutting476">{{Harvnb|Nutting|1972|p=476}}</ref> Heikal, Sadat, and Nasser's wife Tahia were at his deathbed.<ref name="Aburish310">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=310}}</ref> According to his doctor, al-Sawi Habibi, Nasser's likely cause of death was [[arteriosclerosis]], [[varicose veins]], and complications from long-standing [[diabetes]]. Nasser was also a [[Chain smoking|heavy smoker]] with a family history of heart disease—two of his brothers died in their fifties from the same condition.<ref name="Daigle115" /> The state of Nasser's health was not known to the public prior to his death.<ref name="Daigle115" /><ref name="Al-Arabiya">{{cite web |url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/09/26/120379.html |title=Claims that Sadat killed Nasser are unfounded |date=26 September 2010 |work=[[Al Arabiya]] |access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> He had suffered heart attacks before, in 1966 and September 1969.

Following the announcement of Nasser's death, most Arabs were in a state of shock.<ref name="Aburish310" /> Nasser's funeral procession through Cairo on 1 October was attended by at least five million mourners.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Loren |last2=Cody |first2=Edward |title=Quiet Rites Show Stark Contrast to Funeral for Nasser |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/10/11/quiet-rites-show-stark-contrast-to-funeral-for-nasser/a3adbf97-c0e3-4f62-8d18-3ae5950f2372/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=11 October 1981 |access-date=20 September 2021 |issn=0190-8286 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Aburish315">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=315–316}}</ref><ref name="TIME" /> The {{convert|10|km|mi|adj=on|sp=us}} procession to his burial site began at the old RCC headquarters with a flyover by [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21|MiG-21]] jets. His flag-draped coffin was attached to a [[Limbers and caissons|gun carriage]] pulled by six horses and led by a column of cavalrymen.<ref name="TIME" /> All Arab heads of state attended, with the exception of Saudi King Faisal.<ref>{{Harvnb|Weston|2008|p=203}}</ref> King Hussein and Arafat cried openly, and [[Muammar Gaddafi]] of [[Libyan Arab Republic|Libya]] fainted from emotional distress twice.<ref name="Aburish315" /> A few major non-Arab [[dignitary|dignitaries]] were present, including Soviet Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] and French Prime Minister [[Jacques Chaban-Delmas]].<ref name="Aburish315" />

[[File:Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque]] in Cairo, the site of his burial|alt=The front side of a mosque with only one minaret containing a clock.]]

Almost immediately after the procession began, mourners engulfed Nasser's coffin chanting, "There is no God but [[Allah]], and Nasser is God's beloved... Each of us is Nasser."<ref name="TIME" /> Police unsuccessfully attempted to quell the crowds and, as a result, most of the foreign dignitaries were evacuated.<ref name="TIME" /> The final destination was the Nasr Mosque, which was afterwards renamed Abdel Nasser Mosque, where Nasser was buried.<ref name="TIME" />

Because of his ability to motivate nationalistic passions, "men, women, and children wept and wailed in the streets" after hearing of his death, according to Nutting.<ref name="Nutting476" /> The general Arab reaction was of mourning, with thousands of people pouring onto the streets of major cities throughout the Arab world.<ref name="TIME" /> Over a dozen people were killed in Beirut as a result of the chaos, and in [[Jerusalem]], roughly 75,000&nbsp;Arabs marched through the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] chanting, "Nasser will never die."<ref name="TIME" /> As a testament to his unchallenged leadership of the Arab people, following his death, the headline of the Lebanese ''[[L'Orient-Le Jour|Le Jour]]'' read, "One hundred million human beings—the Arabs—are orphans."<ref>{{cite news |title=Nasser's Legacy: Hope and Instability |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=12 October 1970 |page=20}}</ref> [[Sherif Hetata]], a former political prisoner<ref>{{Harvnb|Botman|1988|p=72}}</ref> and later member Nasser's ASU,<ref>{{Harvnb|Nelson|2000|p=72}}</ref> said that "Nasser's greatest achievement was his funeral. The world will never again see five million people crying together."<ref name="Aburish315" />