Haaretz
Cheshvan 13, 5765
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's
health has deteriorated and he is in critical condition, Palestinian
sources said on Wednesday night. The sources went on to say that a team of
doctors in his Ramallah headquarters were fighting for his life. According
to some reports, the PA chairman regained consciousness, though he was
suffering from hallucinations.
A team of doctors, some from
Tunisia, Jordan, and the director of the Ramallah hospital arrived at the
Muqata in Ramallah to treat Arafat. Arafat's personal physician, Dr.
Ashraf Al-Kurdi, is scheduled to arrive from Jordan. Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz also permitted five Egyptian doctors to examine Arafat in
Ramallah, following a request by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar
Suleiman.
A Palestinian cabinet minister said Wednesday night that
Arafat is "very, very sick," and that a team of Jordanian doctors was
urgently summoned to examine him. Earlier Wednesday, Mofaz approved a PA
request to allow Jordanian doctors to examine Arafat. Mofaz granted
permission to transfer Arafat to a hospital in Ramallah, if need be.
Officials also said Arafat's wife, Suha, and daughter Zuhawa, who live in
France, were expected to arrive in Ramallah on Thursday.
Another
official said that Arafat had collapsed Wednesday, was unconscious for
about ten minutes and remained in "very difficult
situation."
Israeli officials speculated early Thursday that Arafat
had suffered a stroke.
An ambulance and a team of doctors,
including the director of the Ramallah hospital, arrived at his
headquarters to check on him.
Israel will let Arafat go for
treatment anywhere he chooses, whether at home or abroad, officials said
on Wednesday.
"He can go for treatment anywhere he wants, in or out
of the country," said one senior official, but added that the question of
whether Arafat could return after was "a separate issue after he
recuperates."
One senior Palestinian official said that
Arafat was unconscious when he saw him Wednesday night, but it was unclear
whether he was sleeping, had been sedated or was in a coma, the official
said on condition of anonymity. Palestinian Information Minister Yasser
Abed Rabbo denied reports that Arafat had lost
consciousness.
Senior Palestinian officials, including current
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and the
heads of various Palestinian security forces, are currently in his
headquarters.
Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told reporters
that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah had
offered to send medical teams Thursday for follow-up
checks.
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said he had seen
the 75-year-old leader earlier on Wednesday, and that Arafat "was still
recovering from stomach flu."
Arafat's foreign minister, Nabil
Shaath, said on Tuesday that the PA Chairman was in pain because of
serious "intestinal flu" but doctors flown in from Egypt and Tunisia
expected him to be feeling much better in a few days.
Confined to
his battered headquarters in Ramallah for the past two years by the Israel
Defense Forces, Arafat underwent a minor diagnostic procedure on Monday
after complaining of stomach pains. Palestinian officials said then that
an endoscopy found no serious ailment but the president remained
weak.
Shaath said the doctors had ruled out stomach
cancer.
Questions about Arafat's health have raised Palestinian
fears of a bloody succession struggle after his death. He has never picked
a successor.