PARIS,
November 9 (IslamOnline.net) – The French authorities are likely to
side with the Palestinian Authority in their public dispute with
Arafat’s wife over who should have the final say on the ailing
leader’s health condition, a move seen as a pre-step to officially declare
Arafat’s death, Palestinian sources revealed to
IslamOnline.net Tuesday, November 9.
The
development comes amid intensive mediation efforts between Suha
Arafat, wife of the veteran leader, and the high level Palestinian
delegation that arrived in Paris late Monday, aiming to convince Mrs.
Arafat to allow the Palestinian Authority to have the final word on
Arafat’s health condition in return for “financial concessions”.
The
French Foreign Ministry has forwarded a report to President Jacques
Chirac highlighting the necessity to grant the Palestinian officials
the right to have the final say on the health condition of Arafat due
to his status as a statesman and a symbol of a whole people, not just
an ordinary private citizen, the sources said.
France
has been on turmoil over the past 24 hours, divided between granting
Mrs. Arafat the right to have the final word on Arafat’s health
condition, as his wife, or to the PA officials, as his political
heirs, according to the sources.
Some
French officials support granting Mrs. Arafat the right to have the
final say, in accordance with the French law that gives the
patient’s family the sole authority to take all decisions regarding
his health condition once he is comatose.
Others
believe PA officials have such right due to his status as a statesman.
Deeper
Coma
 |
|
Arafat’s health condition has deteriorated, Estripeau said
|
Within
the same context, spokesman for the Percy hospital Christian Estripeau
said Tuesday that the ailing Palestinian President’s health
condition has deteriorated and the state of coma has become deeper.
“This
marks a significant step towards a development whose prognosis is
doubtful,” Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
Palestinian
sources described the hospital statement as a pre-step to officially
declare the death of the Palestinian leader following the conclusion
of the Palestinian delegation’s visit to France.
According
to the highly informed Palestinian sources, Arafat’s death would be
declared by the French doctors two days following the visit of the
Palestinian delegation to France, under a political agreement reached
with the French authorities.
The
Palestinian delegation in Paris, comprising the Palestinian Liberation
Movement Executive Committee secretary general Mahmoud Abbas (Abu
Mazen), Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, has already arrived in the
Percy military hospital to meet with the ailing Palestinian President.
French
Foreign Minister Michel Barnier had earlier expressed support for
allowing the Palestinian delegation to meet the ailing Palestinian
President.
“These
are old friends of Yasser Arafat.”
“I
think it's simply natural that, in accordance with her, they can meet
Yasser Arafat.”
Mediation
Meanwhile,
mediation efforts have been intensified between Mrs. Arafat and the
Palestinian delegation, in a bid to convince her to give the
Palestinian Authority the right to have the final say on Arafat’s
health condition in return for “financial concessions”, according
to the Palestinian sources.
The
talks are likely to lead to a short extension of the deadline of two
days after which the Palestinian Authority was supposed to declare
Arafat dead, the sources noted.
However,
the sources did not rule out the Palestinian Authority unilaterally
declaring Arafat’s death in case mediation talks failed.
Doctors
in the French military hospital of Percy have told Mrs. Arafat and
officials accompanying Arafat that he has
passed away, well-placed Palestinian sources told
IslamOnline.net on Sunday, November 7.
Palestinian
officials have earlier asked the French authorities to keep the news
of Arafat’s death under wraps and give them 36 hours, to end Monday,
to arrange the home front.
Mrs.
Arafat had been refusing to remove the life-support systems the
Palestinian leader has been kept on and announce the death of her
75-year-old husband, threatening to file a lawsuit to prevent the
Palestinian officials from having the right to declare Arafat’s
death.
The
sources noted prominent Palestinian figures, trusted by both the
Palestinian Authority and Mrs. Arafat, are trying to strike a deal
with the wife, giving her some financial interests if she gives the PA
the sole authority over Arafat’s death declaration.
Mrs.
Arafat had earlier accused senior Palestinian officials of plotting to
bury the ailing Palestinian leader alive.
“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,” she told Al-Jazeera news channel Monday.
Arafat
arrived
in France Friday, October 29, to receive
treatment at Percy military hospital, southwestern Paris suburb of
Clamart.
