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Arafat
could have been in an “irreversible coma” and “intubated”
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By
Abdul-Raheem Ali, IOL Staff
CAIRO, November 4 (IslamOnline.net) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
had been slowly yet fatally poisoned before being taken to a French
military hospital for treatment, Palestinian sources told
IslamOnline.net on Thursday, November 4.
“This
slow poisoning of Arafat caused problems in his blood platelets, a
case which leads to continuous comas followed by a long irreversible
coma and death,” the sources said, on condition of anonymity.
They
added that the Palestinian security bodies have opened investigations
into the poisoning in Arafat, who had been confined to his
presidential Ramallah compound by
Israel
during the last three years.
Tests
have already revealed that the 75-year-old Palestinian leader has a
low count of blood platelets, which are needed for clotting, but
doctors are uncertain over what is causing the condition.
Mohammed
Rashid, a close associate of the Palestinian leader, said
earlier in the day Arafat’s health sometimes suffers setbacks and
improves at other times _ which is the same symptoms described by the
sources to IOL.
‘Possibly
Poisoned’
Meanwhile,
Arafat's personal physician, Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, told Aljazeera on air
that “the Arafat’s health condition makes the poisoning a strong
possibility”.
Arafat's
chief of staff, Ramzi Khoury, called an Associated Press reporter from
Paris
and told him: “I am standing next to the president's bed, he is in
grave condition.”
French
LCI television station quoted an anonymous French medical official as
saying Arafat was in an “irreversible coma” and “intubated”
— a process that usually involves threading a tube down the windpipe
to the lungs.
The
tube is often connected to a life support machine to help the patient
breathe.
The
Israeli media reported that Arafat was brain dead but remained on life
support.
Other
media outlets reported that the gravely-ill Palestinian leader had
died or was brain dead.
‘More
Complex’
These
statements came after Luxembourg
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at a summit of
European leaders in
Belgium
that Arafat had died, but he later retracted the statement.
After
Juncker's initial statement, a spokesman for the military hospital
where Arafat was rushed Friday said he was still alive.
“Arafat
is not dead,” said Christian Estripeau, head of communications for
French military health services.
“The
clinical situation of the first few days following admission has
become more complex,” said Estripeau.
He
gave no word whether Arafat is in coma or not. The Palestinian leader
was taken to intensive care after his condition worsened.
Threats
Israel
had earlier threatened
to kill Arafat for repeated times. Arafat had escaped 13
assassination bids, including three poisoning attempts, according to
the Palestinian sources.
Israeli
Industry Minister Ehud Olmert said on September 14, that Killing
Arafat is an option.
Arafat
cannot continue to be a factor in the
Middle East
scene. His expulsion is an option, his liquidation is another option.
It is also possible to confine him to prison-like conditions,"
Olmert, who is also deputy Prime Minister, told Israeli radio at the
time.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened the same day to expel
Arafat from the occupied Palestinian territories.
The
hawkish Premier said Arafat would be banished from the Palestinian
lands at the convenient time as was the case with Hamas top leaders
late sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi.
Yassin
and Rantissi were assassinated in an Israeli missile attacks on
occupied Palestinian territories this year.
Sharon
even admitted personally supervising one of the two assaults.
But
the statements have drawn massive intensive fire from the
international community, having probably forced
Israel
to put the plans of assassinating Arafat on hold at that time.
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