Yeltsin feels `like a saint' in Israel

JERUSALEM, JAN. 6. The former Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, says he felt ``like a saint'' after arriving in the holy land on a Christmas pilgrimage in which he received the pomp and security befitting the Head of a State he was until last week.

He was greeted yesterday at Ben-Gurion airport near Tel Aviv by the Education Minister, Mr. Yossi Sarid, one of the ranking ministers currently in Israel, in an informal welcome ceremony organised by the Foreign Ministry's protocol department.

``It's a private visit, but he will get the reception accorded to a figure of his stature - `ex' or not,'' said a spokeswoman for the Ministry. Israel's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister are in the U.S. at peace talks with Syria.

``On holy land, I feel like a saint,'' Mr. Yeltsin joked to the reporters who met him and his wife at the Jerusalem Hilton.

The Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, has invited the leaders of seven European nations where orthodox Christianity predominates to attend Christmas services in Bethlehem today and tomorrow.

It's a rehearsal of the presidential duties Mr. Arafat hopes to assume when he declares Statehood by the end of this year, as he has pledged to do. - AP

`Russia's first President'

Telegraph reports from Moscow:

Mr. Yeltsin proclaimed himself ``Russia's first President'' for life on Wednesday as he began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas.

The title has been created for Mr. Yeltsin to ease the shock of retirement and it secured him a send-off at Moscow's VIP airport which was no different from those he enjoyed during his eight years as Head of State.

Top Ministers and intelligence chiefs lined up to wish him a safe journey on the first visit to the holiest shrines of Christendom by any Russian leader - Tsar or Communist general secretary.

``I see myself as Russia's first President,'' he told journalists in his first public remarks since resigning on New Year's Eve.

New details also emerged of the circumstances leading to his resignation, with his daughter, Tatyana, saying that she learnt about his decision to step down only at the last minute.

She first suspected he was planning a surprise when he broke with tradition and tried local cuisine in China a month ago, Tatyana, who is known by her married name, Dyachenko, told the Kommersant daily.

Mr. Yeltsin is notorious on trips abroad for touching only food cooked by his own Russian chef. Mrs. Dyachenko and her mother, Naina, were sampling Peking duck during a break in their programme when Mr. Yeltsin suddenly appeared and said: ``What's that you're eating? Let me have some.''

The President probably took the decision to resign early after the visit to China, said Mrs. Dyachenko, one of his closest advisers, but kept it secret from her and the rest of his family until the very end.

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