CAIRO, November 8 (IslamOnline.net) – The Palestinian Authority is engaged in painstaking efforts to convince French authority that it has the final legal saying on announcing the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s death, well-informed sources said Monday, November 8.

The PA has already started to draft a legal memo, to be submitted to France, that it has the sole authority to make any decisions concerning Arafat, including the timing of his death declaration, the sources told IslamOnline.net.

"Arafat is not owned by a small family. He is for all the Palestinian people and we pray to God that he comes back safe to achieve his dream of a Palestinian state," head of Arafat's office, Tayeb Abdelrahim, told a press conference in Ramallah.

They added that officials from the PA and Fatah, Arafat’s mainstream movement, have asked the French to keep the news under wraps and give them 36 hours to arrange the home front.

According to the sources, the PA officials are similarly trying to convince Suha to renege on its refusal to announce the death of her 75-year-old husband.

The French law gives a patient's family (wife and children) the sole authority to take all decisions regarding his health conditions once he is comatose.

Mrs Arafat is reportedly clinging to that right and refuses to order the removal of life-support systems the Palestinian leader has been kept on.

The PA officials will also attempt to convince Suha to authorize a number of leading Palestinian figures she trusts, such as Fatah Central Committee Secretary Farouq Qaddoumi, to make the final decision about the death timing.

The Palestinian sources attributed Suha's refusal to declare Arafat's death at present to her desire to safeguard her financial interests.

Some reports indicate that most of the PA’s bank accounts abroad are under Arafat’s name, which could trigger a legal battle with his wife.

Palestinian sources expect French authorities to intervene and end the legal wrangling between Mrs Arafat and Palestinian officials.

They added that French authorities have firmly asked the PA officials to respect the 36-hour deadline and implicitly threatened to leak Arafat’s death to the media.

Four of Yasser Arafat's top aides will head to Paris Monday to visit the ailing Palestinian leader despite bitter accusations by his wife that they were planning a deathbed coup.

Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, acting PLO Executive Committee Chief Mahmud Abbas and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath had initially scrapped the plans to visit Arafat after the outburst of Suha Arafat.

But they later decided that they would go ahead with the visit, and would be joined by the Parliament Speaker Rawhi Fattuh.

"A handful of (people) seeking to inherit power are coming to Paris to try and bury Abu Ammar (Arafat) alive. I ask you to look at the extent of the plot," Mrs Arafat said in an emotional appeal on Aljazeera news channel.

In Arafat's absence, Abbas has been at the helm of the PLO while Qorei has been in overall charge of the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian officials have privately expressed exasperation about the lack of information they were receiving about the health of Arafat.

Suha is one of only a handful of people who have been authorized to see the 75-year-old veteran leader in the last 10 days.

In an attempt to avoid a security vacuum following the awaited declaration of Arafat's death, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced Sunday, November 7, readiness to host a meeting of Palestinian factions to form a council to steer the Palestinian affairs and peace process with Israel.

Political sources close to the Egyptian government told IOL that contacts have already started with a number of Palestinian faction leaders to fix a date for the proposed meeting.

They expected the meeting to be held immediately after Arafat’s burial.