Haaretz
Cheshvan 14, 5766
Palestinian Authority chairman
Yasser Arafat died after a poison was injected into his ear, according to
statements made by senior PA official Ahmad Abdul Rahman that appeared
Wednesday in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper.
Abdul
Rahman, who now serves as an advisor to current PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas,
granted an interview to the paper on the occasion of the one-year
anniversary of Arafat's death.
According to Abdul Rahman, who is
also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arafat was poisoned at
the end of September 2003 and lost 13 kilograms during the course of 16
days. Doctors were unable to identify Arafat's ailment during this
period.
Abdul Rahman added that Arafat loved the closeness of the
people around him. He said there is no doubt that one of them injected a
poison into his ear that caused his death over the long term.
According to Al-Quds newspaper, Fatah political advisor Othman Abu
Rabiya maintains that regional bodies were involved in the "assassination
of Arafat."