The death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a stalwart of the Non Aligned Movement and close friend of Mrs Bandaranaike, saw her travelling to Cairo for the State Funeral. Mrs Bandaranaike had met him with just weeks before his death at the Non Aligned Summit in Lusaka when President Nasser had relinquished leadership of the Movement to President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. Also present at the State Funeral were other dignitaries including Prime Minister Kosygin of the USSR, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus and Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat, with whom Mrs Bandaranaike built a firm friendship. The mass hysteria experienced in Egypt resulted in the many world leaders being able to pay their last respects but not attend the funeral, given the security risk involved.