- Amid reports of rapidly deteriorating health, four ambulances
were seen this afternoon entering the compound of Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat.
-
- A spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, dismissed reports Arafat,
74, had been taken to a hospital, but another senior official said he has
seen the Palestinian leader's health slide over the past two weeks, according
to the Jerusalem Post.
-
- "I don't think it's the flu as some people say,"
the senior official said. "The president hasn't been feeling well
for some time, and his health seems to be worsening."
-
- Abu Rudeineh insisted Arafat merely was exhausted and
was recovering, and the senior official said he possibly could have picked
up viruses from all the people with whom he has shaken hands and exchanged
kisses lately. Thousands have come to his compound since Israel announced
its decision to "remove" him.
-
- But Palestinians say they never have seen Arafat look
as ill as he did Sunday when he met with new PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
-
- "You can see that he's very ill," said someone
who attended the meeting, according to the Post. "He can hardly speak.
Something bad is happening to him."
-
- The decision to bar reporters and visitors from Arafat's
compound this evening added fuel to the speculation, the Jerusalem paper
said.
-
- Last week, after a team of doctors was summoned from
Jordan to examine him, a journalist in Ramallah quoted a senior PA official
as saying that "Arafat's days are numbered," the Post reported.
-
- The doctors were called in after Arafat complained of
severe abdominal pain and had been vomiting for several days. Aides suspected
he had been poisoned. The Jordanian medical team concluded he was only
mildly ill and needed rest.
-
- Citing a close aide to the Palestinian leader, the Guardian
reports Arafat suffered a mild heart attack last week, but the news was
not made public for fear it would "create panic."
-
- "Although he has had a slight heart attack, the
doctors say he will make a full recovery. He is in full control. There
is nothing to worry about," the aide, who did not wish to be named,
told the London-based paper.
-
- Asked why it had not been made public at the time, the
official said that the news would "have created panic at a critical
time when the Israelis are threatening Arafat's life."
-
- The Jerusalem daily, citing PA officials, said Arafat's
illness could be linked to his decision to declare a state of emergency
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
-
- "It's possible that he doesn't want to leave a vacuum
behind," said one PA official, the Post reported. "He must have
discussed the issue with Abu Ala [Qureia]."
|
