CAIRO,
October 28 (IslamOnline.net) - Ailing Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat is to be moved to a hospital in Paris late on Thursday, October
28, or Friday, October 29, after Israel agreed to allow his return,
press reports and Palestinian officials said.
Well-placed
Arab sources told IslamOnline.net earlier in the day that Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Jordan were making intensive consultations with the US and
a number of European countries to pressure Israel into securing Arafat
a return to Palestinian lands after the journey.
The
consultations came before doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment.
Fifteen
doctors - including Palestinians and specialists rushed in from
Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt - examined the 75-year-old Arafat on
Thursday and decided he would be able to get the best treatment in
Paris, one of the doctors was quoted by the Associated Press as saying
on condition of anonymity.
Reuters
said that he would be moved to the hospital on Thursday or Friday.
The
news was confirmed by Palestinian officials, Aljazeera said, without
mentioning their names.
Arafat's
wife Suha arrived in the West Bank on Thursday to be with the ailing
president, her mother said.
Suha
Arafat, who lives in Paris, has not seen her husband since a
Palestinian Intifadah Israel broke out in 2000. She had flown to Amman
from France.
Assurances
The
news came after prominent Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Al-Tibi
said Israeli officials assured the Palestinians on Thursday that if
Arafat recovered, he would be able to return to the West Bank
Tibi,
an Arafat confidant, said the promise had come from Dov Weisglass, a
senior aide of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Senior
government spokesperson Raanan Gissin noted earlier in the day that
Israel was unwilling to make such promises.
One
Palestinian official said earlier he expected Arafat to be flown by
helicopter to Amman.
Israel
has repeatedly threatened to expel - or even assassinate - the
Palestinian leader and suggested that if he left the Palestinian
territories he would not be allowed back.
Observers
considered the transfer of Arafat to a Paris hospital a demonstration
of the severity of the health crisis and mark the first time for him
to leave his battered Ramallah headquarters since he was confined
there by Israel in 2002.
A
close Arafat associate was quoted by the AP as saying the Palestinian
leader spent most of the day sleeping. When he awoke, he was moved
into a wheelchair because he was very weak and could not stand up, the
associate said.
At
times, Arafat appeared confused, not recognizing some of his visitors,
he added on condition of anonymity.
Reports
said Arafat has formed a tripartite leadership committee -- comprising
former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, current premier Qorei and the
president of the Palestinian National Council Salim Al-Zaanoun (the
PLO's parliament in exile) -- to ensure a smooth transition of power.
The
reports were, however, denied by a senior Arafat aide.
Hundreds
of Palestinians and media people gathered outside Arafat's compound.
Arafat
is the most popular Palestinian leader and the symbol of the
Palestinian national struggle.
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