Yasser Arafat: Eyes on Ramallah as Palestinian leader's body is exhumed

A tarpaulin erected around the mausoleum housing the former Palestinian Yasser Arafat is seen in Ramallah on Nov 26. The iconic leader's body was exhumed Tuesday.

Πηγή: The Telegraph
By AFP
Nov 27 2012

One of the biggest Middle East enigmas came closer to a resolution today, as the remains of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed to enable investigators to seek traces of poison.

The remains were exhumed this morning, according to Palestinian officals, and now international forensic experts will search for additional clues to Arafat's death.

The investigation will cap eight years of speculation about whether the former president was murdered, as many Palestinians believe.

French judges in charge of the investigation arrived on Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Arafat's mausoleum stands in the grounds of the Muqataa complex, from which the late leader ruled and where president Mahmoud Abbas has his headquarters.

Rumours and speculation have surrounded Mr Arafat's death ever since a quick deterioration of his health before he died at the Percy military hospital near Paris in November 2004 at the age of 75.

Doctors were unable at the time to say what killed the Palestinians' first democratically-elected president and an autopsy was never performed, at his widow Suha's request.

But many Palestinians believed he was poisoned by Israel - a theory that gained ground in July when Al-Jazeera reported Swiss findings showing abnormal quantities of the radioactive substance polonium on Arafat's personal effects.

France opened a formal murder inquiry in late August at Suha's request.

Polonium was the substance that killed Russian ex-spy and fierce Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Experts from the Swiss lab that tested the samples for the Al-Jazeera news network will work alongside the French investigators. Russian specialists will also be taking part in the process, at the request of the Palestinian leadership.

The exhumation process is to take place behind blue plastic sheets and far from the public view, with the French investigators overseeing the process.

Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian team investigating Arafat's death, said the tomb will be opened, samples taken and a reburial ceremony held all on the same day.

An official statement is expected at the end of the process.

The samples will then be flown to laboratories in the three countries involved, with results expected within several months.

Some experts, however, have questioned whether anything conclusive will be found because polonium has a short life and dissipates quicker than some other radioactive substances.

And Jean-Rene Jourdain, deputy head of human protection at the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), cautioned it would take several weeks of analysis to be sure that the traces were man-made polonium rather than just coincidental contamination by naturally-occurring polonium.

"Even if traces of polonium are found, it doesn't mean that they are man-made," the French nuclear expert told AFP on Monday.

Experts take samples of Arafat belongings, Palestinians await Tuesday's exhumation

Πηγή: Xinhua
Nov 26 2012

Experts took Monday evening samples of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's belongings for testing, a well-informed Palestinian source said, while Palestinians wait with anxiety the exhumation of his remains on Tuesday to know the reasons behind his mysterious death.

The samples were taken from Arafat's personal office at al- Muqat'aa, the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) in the West Bank, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

This move came just hours before Tuesday's exhumation of his remains in the West Bank city of Ramallah to investigate into the death of Arafat in November 2004.

The source added that a meeting was held Monday between PNA officials and international experts in Ramallah, who agreed on the preparations made to reopen Arafat's tomb and take the samples of his remains. The remains will be dug up without media coverage.

Experts from the Lausanne-based Institute of Radiation Physics on Sunday evening secretly examined the grave, which was near the Palestinian leadership's Ramallah headquarters, Palestinian sources told Xinhua earlier on Monday.

Delegations from France and Russia will also join the exhumation and investigation.

Adham Manasra, a young man from Ramallah, said that opening the tomb and testing samples of Arafat's remains "is the only way to know the real reasons behind his death."

"I'm concerned that the results will lead to internal disputes and mutual accusations," said Manasra.

The Palestinians accused Israel of being behind the death of Arafat, who died of a mysterious disease in a hospital in Paris eight years ago.

Debates over Arafat's death renewed after the Swiss experts tested Arafat's personal belongings as part of a documentary movie aired in July by Al-Jazeera, the Doha-based Arab news network. The report cited the Institute of Radiation Physics as saying that traces of radioactive polonium-210 were found on Arafat's underwear and toothbrush.

Farid Abu Dheir, a teacher at al-Najah University in the city of Nablus in the West Bank, told Xinhua that looking for the reasons behind Arafat's death was too late and has been delayed, noting that the PNA should also go on with all legal measures to take Israel to "international criminal court for killing Arafat."

However, other Palestinians expressed opposition against opening Arafat's grave. Amani Abu Shamseyeh, a Palestinian woman from Ramallah, said "Let President Arafat rest in peace."

Munir al-Jagoub, another young Palestinian activist, said " President Arafat always said that he wants to be buried in Jerusalem, so instead of opening and closing, they should take his remains to Jerusalem."

"Although Arafat died, his spirit is living inside us. No matter how he was killed or how he died, our love to him won't be changed," said al-Jagoub.

Meanwhile, many other Palestinians believe the death of Arafat has become part of the past and the Palestinians "should pay attention more to their future."

Palestinian president approves Arafat autopsy

Πηγή: USA Today

By AFP
July 9 2012

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has given his permission to exhume the remains of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, a top aide said Monday, days after a Swiss institute reported finding elevated traces of a radioactive substance on the late leader's belongings.

The findings by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics were inconclusive, but revived speculation that Arafat was poisoned.

The legendary Palestinian leader died Nov. 11, 2004 in a French military hospital, a month after falling violently ill at his government compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The Swiss institute has said it would need to examine Arafat's remains for conclusive findings, though a clear-cut outcome is not assured because of the decay of the substance, polonium-210, over the years. Last week, Abbas said he was willing, in principle, to allow an autopsy, provided he receives permission from religious authorities and Arafat's family.

Arafat was buried in a mausoleum that has become the centerpiece of the Ramallah compound where Abbas' headquarters are located. The exhumation would create a huge spectacle that could upset some devout Muslims, though there seems to be a widespread desire among Palestinians to determine the cause of death.

Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said Monday that the Palestinian president has decided to invite the Swiss experts to Ramallah in order to examine the remains. "We are on the way to an autopsy," Erekat told The Associated Press.

Erekat said a Palestinian medical expert would contact the Swiss institute later Monday or Tuesday to offer the invitation. Erekat said an autopsy could be conducted as soon as the Swiss team arrives. There was no immediate comment from the institute.

Arafat's widow, Suha, has repeatedly called for exhuming the remains. She worked closely with the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, which conducted an investigation into Arafat's death and received permission from her to submit her husband's belongings for testing. The top Muslim cleric in the Palestinian territories has also given his blessing to exhuming the remains.

Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Kidwa, has been cool to the idea of an autopsy but signaled he will not stand in the way.

"Our belief was always that it was an unusual death, and most likely he (Arafat) was poisoned. Now all indications say he was poisoned," al-Kidwa told AP. Al-Kidwa, a former Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, heads the Yasser Arafat Foundation and is the custodian of Arafat's memory.

Erekat suggested that Abbas was firm in his decision to move forward.

Polonium-210 is a highly lethal substance, and less than 1 gram (0.04 ounces) of the silver powder is sufficient to kill. Because polonium-210 decays rapidly, experts have been divided over whether testing Arafat's remains would provide a solid clue eight years after his death.

Polonium's most famous victim was KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London in 2006 after the substance was slipped into his tea. Someone poisoned by polonium would experience multiple organ failure as alpha radiation particles bombard the liver, kidneys and bone marrow from within.

French doctors said in 2004 that Arafat, then 75, died of a massive stroke. According to French medical records, he had suffered inflammation, jaundice and a blood condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation, or DIC.

But the records were inconclusive about what brought about the DIC, which has numerous possible causes, including infections and liver disease. Outside experts who reviewed the available records on behalf of The Associated Press were also unable to pinpoint the underlying cause.

In the last three years of his life, Arafat was confined by Israel to his Ramallah walled compound, the Muqata. The Palestinian leader was seen by Israel and the U.S. as an obstacle to peace efforts and a sponsor of attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis.

Israel has emphatically denied a role in Arafat's death. Officials say that with Arafat locked in to his headquarters, there was no need to kill him, and argue that an assassination would only have destabilized what already was a difficult period of heavy fighting. Senior Palestinian officials have repeatedly accused Israel of killing Arafat, saying it had the means, motive and opportunity.

A renewed investigation could lead to uncomfortable questions for the Palestinian leadership. If an autopsy was to reveal that Arafat was indeed poisoned, the probe would also have to look at Palestinians who had access to him.

The Al-Jazeera TV's investigation is also embarrassing to the Palestinian Authority, which launched its own probe after Arafat's death and failed to discover any leads.

Palestinians ready to exhume Arafat's body for tests

Yasser Arafat's body may be exhumed for more testing of the causes of his death.

Πηγή: USA Today
July 4 2012

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – Yasser Arafat's body may be exhumed to allow for more testing of the causes of his death, the Palestinian president said Wednesday, after a Swiss lab said it found elevated levels of a radioactive isotope in belongings the Palestinian leader is said to have used in his final days.

Arafat's widow, Suha, called for an autopsy in the wake of the lab's findings, first reported by the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera. In an interview with the station, she did not explain why she waited nearly eight years to have the belongings, including a toothbrush and a fur hat, tested. At the time of his death, she refused to agree to an autopsy.

The Palestinian leader died at a military hospital outside Paris in November 2004 of what French doctors called a massive brain hemorrhage — weeks after he fell violently ill at his West Bank compound.

Doctors, including independent experts who reviewed his medical records on behalf of The Associated Press, have been unable to pinpoint the underlying cause of the hemorrhage. Speculation has lingered in the Arab world that he was killed by Israel, which viewed him as an obstacle to a peace treaty. Israeli officials have vociferously denied any foul play.

Francois Bochud, who heads the Institute of Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his lab examined belongings that Arafat's widow said were used by Arafat in his final days, as well as others that he hadn't worn. Suha Arafatsaid the belongings were put in a secure room at her attorney's office in Paris after Arafat's death and stayed there until Al-Jazeera approached the lab on her behalf at the beginning of this year, he added.

Experts found what Bochud characterized as "very small" quantities of polonium, an isotope that is naturally present in the environment. But there were higher quantities of polonium in Arafat's underwear and hospital clothing.

This would not necessarily mean Arafat was poisoned, Bochud said, adding that it is not possible to say where the polonium might have come from. "What is possible to say is that we have an unexplained level of polonium, so this clearly goes toward the hypothesis of a poisoning, but our results are clearly not a proof of any poisoning," Bochud said by telephone from Switzerland.

Polonium is best known for causing the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a one-time KGB agent turned critic of the Russian government, in London in 2006. Litvinenko ingested tea laced with the substance.

In a statement issued by his office, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he is willing to cooperate with further testing, provided Arafat's family agrees.

"The Palestinian Authority was and remains fully prepared to cooperate and to provide all the facilities needed to reveal the real causes that led to the death of the late president," the statement said. "There are no religious or political reasons that preclude research on this issue, including an examination of the late president by a reliable national medical body, upon request and approval by his family."

The top Muslim cleric in the Palestinian territories, Mufti Mohammed Hussein, said there would be no objections on religious grounds to an autopsy.

With Mrs. Arafat and religious authorities in agreement, it was unclear what other steps were needed for the body to be exhumed from his grave in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

At the time of his death, Arafat was confined by Israel in the Ramallah government compound. The United States and Israel viewed Arafat as largely responsible for the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising.

In a radio interview, Dov Weisglass, the chief of staff of Israel's then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, brushed off the Al-Jazeera report. He said Israeli officials never considered killing Arafat. He said Sharon opposed killing Arafat because "he didn't think his physical extermination would help. On the contrary."

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor was dismissive of the latest development, saying "the circumstances of Arafat's death are not a mystery. … He was treated in France, in a French hospital by French doctors and they have all the medical information."