PARIS, October 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in France Friday, October 29, and rushed to a military hospital for treatment.

French military jet that the government confirmed was carrying the 75-year-old Arafat landed at a military airfield outside Paris, and witnesses said he was quickly put on a helicopter and flown to the Hopital d'Instruction des Armees de Percy, southwest of the capital.

The initial four-hour flight time had been extended by more than an hour because the plane had no authorization to fly through Israeli airspace, French defense ministry officials were quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

Arafat, the living symbol of the Palestinian struggle for statehood, has been struck down by what one of his doctors said was a potentially fatal blood disorder.

A French military official at the airbase said Arafat was taken to the facility by helicopter not by road, due to the large number of journalists waiting outside.

The six-year-old hospital boasts state of the art technology and a staff of 1,200 for its 430 beds. Among its specializations is the treatment and study of blood illnesses.

It was named after the early 19th century figure Pierre-Francois Percy, the top army surgeon during Napoleon's campaigns who devised horse-and-chariot ambulances to care for the wounded on the battlefield.

Arafat is said to be suffering from a potentially fatal blood disorder. It is the first time that he has left the Palestinian territories for nearly three years, due to an Israeli siege.

Arafat has been sick for the past two weeks and blood tests have revealed he has a low platelet count -- a possible symptom of leukemia or other cancers or a number of other maladies, according to The Associated Press.

However, Arafat's personal physician, Ashraf Kurdi, Thursday ruled out leukemia.

But an Arafat confidant, Ahmed Tibi, said Friday that “t this point, no possibility has been eliminated.”

Tibi, an Israeli Arab legislator, was quoted by the AP as saying that Israeli intelligence officials have speculated that Arafat might be suffering from leukemia and he indicated that Arafat might have some symptoms of the disease.

Platelets are blood components that aid in clotting. A low count can be caused by many medical problems, including bleeding ulcers, colitis, blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, liver disease, lupus and chickenpox.

The platelet count also can be low because of treatment with blood thinners.

The plane, a small Falcon chartered by France, took off from a military airport east of Amman earlier Friday.

Arafat has been effectively confined to his Ramallah presidential headquarters, known as the Muqataa, by Israel troops.

Israel, which has claimed that Arafat an obstacle to peace, has indicated that it will allow the Palestinian leader to return to Ramallah after treatment in the French capital.

As he was flown out of Jordan to Paris early Friday, Arafat appeared in good spirits.

The plane took off from Marka military airport in east Amman where a crowd of well wishers, lead by the Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki, Arab and French diplomats as well as Palestinian officials gathered.

Arafat appeared to be walking from the helicopter to the plane with some assistance, an AFP correspondent said.

Wearing a dark green military overcoat and a fur hat instead of his trademark chequered keffiyeh headdress, Arafat blew kisses to the waiting throngs at the Amman airport and appeared in good spirits, chatting to officials in the crowd around him.

Meanwhile, a poll showed Friday that a majority of Israelis would like Arafat to die.

Forty-seven percent of those surveyed in the poll for the private Channel Two television network agreed that they wanted him dead while only 32 percent disagreed. The rest expressed no opinion.

But the poll, conducted by the Maagar institute, also showed that most of the 32 percent also wanted to see Arafat continue to suffer.

Fifty-eight percent said that the Israeli government was right to allow Arafat to go abroad for treatment while 36 percent disagreed with the decision.

While Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made a number of threats to kill the Palestinian leader, his government is also wary of being held to blame in the event of his death.

After the extent of his condition became clear, Israel made clear that it would allow him to both leave the West Bank and would not hinder his return after treatment.

Five hundred people were questioned in the survey which has a 4.5 percent margin of error.