Arafat's illness [Merged]

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

Arafat may leave his ramallah HQ for the first time in last 2 years to visit hospital. I personally believe that he is pretty sick and that is why israel allowed him to go to hospital. Despite of its obvious harted for arafat, israeli adiministartion wants him to be alive for political reasons.

Israel allows ill Arafat to leave his HQ

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Tuesday October 26, 2004
The Guardian

The Israeli government has given Yasser Arafat permission to leave his Ramallah headquarters for the first time in two years to receive medical treatment, following visits by two teams of foreign doctors to treat the 75 year-old Palestinian leader for what his aides insist is only flu.

The defence ministry said Mr Arafat would be allowed to visit a Ramallah hospital on condition he returns to the battered headquarters, still partially destroyed after an Israeli assault in 2002, that has become his de facto prison.

But Palestinian officials said Mr Arafat had made no request to visit the hospital and would not be doing so.

Mr Arafat has previously refused to leave the compound, known as the muqata, because he feared Israeli forces would move in to seize a number of wanted Palestinian combatants sheltering there.

The Palestinian leader’s health has been the subject of intense speculation over recent days following the visit of two teams of doctors, from Egypt and Tunisia, to examine him.

A delegation of five Tunisian doctors arrived at the muqata at the weekend after the Tunisian president, Zine al-Abidine, asked the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to allow them in.

Although Palestinian officials stuck by the story that their leader only has flu, Israeli officials said that the specialists among the Tunisian team suggested he was being treated for something much more serious.

The Tunisian doctors carried out a series of tests including an endoscopy to check his stomach. Speculation has centred on the possibility of intestinal cancer.
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The doctors declined to talk to reporters. Palestinian officials said the doctors had concluded that Mr Arafat did not need surgery at this stage. They denied he had cancer.

Ten days ago, Egyptian doctors visited Mr Arafat after he was unable to complete the first day of Ramadan prayers and did not follow his usual ritual of receiving delegations at the muqata for his holiday blessings.

Israel’s Channel Two television reported that both teams of doctors concluded that Mr Arafat was suffering from gallstones and had an intestinal infection.

Mr Arafat’s personal doctor, Ashraf al-Kurdi, said his patient is in relatively good health but had suffered a bout of acute flu.

A Palestinian cabinet minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Arafat’s health was good.

An Arab Israeli MP, Ahmed Tibi, a doctor who is close to Mr Arafat, told Israeli radio the Palestinian leader’s health was normal. “He was struck by the flu recently but is better,” he said.

Concerns about Mr Arafat’s health has also prompted discussion about whether he might be granted permission to travel abroad for treatment.

The Israeli government is divided about whether to permit him to leave the country. Some politicians would like to drive him into exile, others argue that it is better to keep him imprisoned and isolated in Ramallah.

Mr Arafat is likely to reject any permission to travel without a guarantee from the Israelis that he could return to the occupied territories.

Sakher Habash, a central committee member of Mr Arafat’s Fatah movement, said he believed that if the Palestinian leader left the occupied territories, Israel would use the opportunity to expel him or to kill him, “in a way that his death would seem to be a normal death”.

He added: “It seems that Israel is trying to spread rumours about Arafat’s health and his need for a surgery.”

2

An update on Mr. Arafat’s health…

Yasser Arafat’s Doctors Rule Out Cancer

1 hour, 6 minutes ago Middle East - AP

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A blood test and an endoscopy on Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) have dispelled suspicions he has cancer in his digestive tract, one of the Palestinian leader’s doctors said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a hospital official said Arafat was suffering from a large gallstone. The gallstone, while extremely painful, is not life-threatening and can be easily treated, the official told The Associated Press.

Arafat’s health has been the subject of intense speculation. His aides have insisted he is recovering from a bad case of the flu and does not have a serious illness. However, they have played down his health problems in the past, apparently to avoid making him appear weak.

The 75-year-old Arafat has refused to groom a successor, for fear of nurturing a rival who could threaten his rule, and no clear challenger has emerged.

In the past two years, he has worn out two Palestinian prime ministers, Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qureia, with political maneuvers and has blocked their attempt to limit his powers.

On Wednesday, Arafat continued to rest and broke his Ramadan fast for a second straight day, aides said.

After doctors diagnosed the gallstone Tuesday, Arafat underwent more tests at the urging of his doctors.

A member of the medical team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a blood test found no sign of cancer and no further tests were expected. Israeli officials have speculated he was suffering from stomach cancer.

Teams of Egyptian and Tunisian doctors have examined Arafat in recent days. On Monday, he underwent an endoscopy, or examiniation of the digestive tract.

The exams were conducted at Arafat’s headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Arafat has not left the sandbagged, partially demolished compound since 2002 because of Israeli threats he would not be allowed to return.

Arafat’s doctors have equipped two rooms in the compound with medical equipment so routine tests can be carried out there, instead of in a hospital.

A medical official involved in the testing Monday said the clinic contains X-ray and ultrasound machines, as well as equipment for emergency resuscitation. During the test, Arafat was in his pajamas and wore a blue wool hat, instead of his trademark black-and-white checkered headscarf, the medical official said.

Palestinian doctors and lab workers conducted the tests, which were then analyzed by five specialists from Tunisia.

Arafat chatted with the visitors, telling them about previous Israeli incursions into his compound, which is sandbagged and partially demolished.

The medical official said Arafat sleeps in a small room that has a bed, a closet and one window, even though a new, sunnier room has been refurbished for him on another floor.

From his window, Arafat looks out on rubble and heaps of cars flattened in previous Israeli raids.

3

The PA has since said Arafat is in good health…yet unconscious?

Palestinian sources: Arafat has lost consciousness

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s health has deteriorated, Palestinian sources said on Wednesday night. An ambulance and a team of doctors, including the director of the Ramallah hospital, arrived at his headquarters to check on him. According to one report, Arafat 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 the Muqata.

Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told reporters that the Palestinian Authority chairman remains in good health and 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 75-year-old leader 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.

4

Wow what an honour, mighty Israel has spoken! Hey Israel, may I breathe?

5

Considering he is the President of Palestinian Authority right now, it is a valid question to wonder who will be the new leader in case Arafat dies or is otherwise indisposed? I think initially the Prime Minister will take over and then a fierce internal power struggle will ensue.

6

Hanan Ashrawi would be a good leader. She's already a very good spokesperson for the Palestinians. Unfortunately, she is often overlooked by her fellow Palestinians.

7

Dr. Ashrawi may be a good spokesperson. What Palestinians need at this point is a powerful leader who can bring different factions together, and has statesman-like ability to be a visionary and negotiate a fair(er) deal for his/her people. Not an easy task, by any means.

8

No obvious answer for his successor…I hope Mr. Arafat will do just fine otherwise his sudden demise may open a can of worms .

After Arafat: who could replace him?

Palestinians and the wider world wonder if transition can go smoothly

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Thursday October 28, 2004
The Guardian

Yasser Arafat’s sudden health crisis has again raised the question, in Palestinian circles as in the wider world, of who ultimately will replace the 75-year-old president - and whether the succession will be smooth or volatile.

Until now, Palestinian politicians have been reluctant to speak openly about the next leader, mainly because Mr Arafat would not allow it but also because it would be seen as a betrayal, a surrender to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who has been successful in marginalising him.

Mr Arafat’s ill-health, which has dogged him for years, was apparent only a fortnight ago when he met a small group of British journalists. He frequently rambled from issue to issue, and raised odd conspiracy theories that ranged from Iran to Chile.

The sudden deterioration in his condition came less than 24 hours after his arch-rival, Mr Sharon, pushed through the Knesset his planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last year. That offered a chance to break the Middle East stalemate.

If Mr Arafat is unable to continue as leaderof the Palestinians, that too will change the politics of the region. The US and Israel, and latterly Britain, have refused to work with him, claiming he is unreliable and untrustworthy.

His successor could come from one of the new generation of politicians, either the younger Palestinians who came to the West Bank and Gaza with him from exile in Tunis 10 years ago, or the generation that was brought up in the West Bank and Gaza and led the first intifada in 1987 and participated or led the second one that began in September 2000.

The successor could be a figure such as the existing prime minister or finance minister, or one of the warlords, such as Jibril Rajoub or Mohammed Dahlan, or Marwan Barghouti, at present in jail in Israel.

But the succession might not be that simple. Groups outside Mr Arafat’s Fatah organisation might want a claim on leadership, not least the Islamist organisation Hamas that dominates life in Gaza.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been careful not to attack Mr Arafat but might not feel the same trepidation about confronting his potential successor.

Mr Arafat’s glory days were as a revolutionary leader but he has been less successful as an administrator of the West Bank and Gaza after the Oslo agreement with Israel. His Palestinian Authority became synonomous with corruption and lost much popular support.

He has expressed scepticism about Mr Sharon’s Gaza withdrawal plan, claiming that the Israelis would keep Gaza as an open prison and that Israel remained intent on expanding its hold on the West Bank. A successor would probably share the same view, but might be more inclined to take what is on offer and try to make the most of it, something Mr Arafat was reluctant to do.

Hamas was swift to claim that the Israeli parliament’s vote to pull Jewish settlers out of the battered Gaza Strip was a victory for Palestinian resistance.

But Palestinian leaders say there is little to cheer even if Mr Sharon carries through his pledge to remove about 7,500 settlers and the army from one part of Palestinian territory.

“We should look on it as rearranging the occupation in a way that is more comfortable to the occupier,” said one Palestinian cabinet minister, Ghassan Khatib. “It’s clear that Sharon is linking the withdrawal from Gaza to consolidation of occupation in the West Bank. It’s not going to be realised.”

The Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said he feared that the Gaza withdrawal would be Israel’s “first and last” pullout.

“The Palestinian people will be happy when they see them withdraw from all of Palestine,” he said.

Mr Sharon has justified taking unilateral action on the grounds that there is no one to negotiate with on the Palestinian side because he says Yasser Arafat “will not fight terror”.

A new, more robust leader could neutralise that argument, though no Palestinian leader would find it easy to take on the militants without risking all-out civil war.

9

New reports suggest Arafat will be flown to Paris for diagnosis and treatment. He is apparently suffering from blood platelet deficiency. Israel has reportedly assured that it is changing its policy and will allow Arafat to return from Paris.

[thumb=H]Arafat12080_5880840.JPG[/thumb]
Video released Thursday shows a smiling Arafat holding the hands of his aides.

*Source*

10

Leukemia. He won’t be coming back.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OIUGXTPAOOENKCRBAEZSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=6650905

11

Whether he lives or not, its pretty clear he is no position to lead (?) the Palestinian people effectively due to his failing health. I don't know why these organizations insist on "President for Life" concepts where a guy can not be replaced till he dies. Palestinian Authority should automatically start the process of figuring out a mechanism of how they should elect a new leader.

12

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Whether he lives or not, its pretty clear he is no position to lead (?) the Palestinian people effectively due to his failing health. I don't know why these organizations insist on "President for Life" concepts where a guy can not be replaced till he dies. Palestinian Authority should automatically start the process of figuring out a mechanism of how they should elect a new leader.
[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with you. Then again, majority, if not all, the arab countries are set up with "leader for life" type of system.

13

Arafat to be treated in Paris: Potentially fatal blood disorder diagnosed

Arafat to be treated in Paris: Potentially fatal blood disorder diagnosed

http://www.dawn.com/2004/10/29/top13.htm

RAMALLAH, Oct 28: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is to be taken by helicopter to Jordan on Friday morning from the compound where he had been under virtual house arrest for three years. From Jordan he will travel to Paris for emergency hospital treatment.

A French presidential spokesman confirmed on Thursday that Mr Arafat would be transferred to Paris “imminently” for hospital treatment, while a close ally of the ageing leader said he would be airlifted to Jordan, from where he would be flown to the French capital.

The Jordanian government confirmed that two helicopters would pick up Mr Arafat at dawn and take him to Amman, from where a plane would be waiting to take him to Paris.

Medics have diagnosed the 75-year-old leader as suffering from a potentially fatal blood disorder that requires further tests outside the West Bank.

“The president will be transferred to Paris Friday at 6.30am (0430 GMT),” said Munib al Masri, a businessman with close ties to the Palestinian leader.

“A Jordanian helicopter will come here and pick him up at the Muqataa, take him to Amman and then he will go to Paris,” he said, referring to Mr Arafat’s Ramallah compound.

France had earlier said it would send a plane to the region to airlift Mr Arafat to Paris.

The Israeli government, whose troops have been keeping him confined to his West Bank headquarters, earlier made clear it would not block his departure nor his return to the West Bank following treatment overseas.

As plans were being finalized for his transfer, fire trucks and bulldozers began clearing rubble and wreckage from the grounds of Mr Arafat’s battered headquarters in order to create a landing space for the helicopter that will take him on the first leg of his trip.

US REACTION: And in Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the US administration hoped the Palestinian Authority chief would “get the medical care that he needs to return to health”.

“In our view, it is not a political situation; it is a matter of someone being able to get proper medical care,” he stressed.

“We hope that he gets the medical care that he needs to return to health,” Mr Boucher said.-AFP

14

PLO has always worked for Israel and in this will not change in future. To Turn tables was a business of Yassir lets see who will take over that business of his.

15

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Whether he lives or not, its pretty clear he is no position to lead .
[/QUOTE]

did he ever lead he was agent of the west since day 1 just like saddam, hosni mubarak, king in his own mind hussien (now very dead), saud family, they long line of agents and puppets nobody will miss them at all only the people who will stop getting money like close family and lackeys will shed tears for the money they will no longer get from these puppets!

16

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ali_R: *
PLO has always worked for Israel ...
[/QUOTE]

ha! A baseless accusation at best. You mean Mossad is the hidden hand behind PLO?

Wow man! we should award you with a PhD for this wonderful discovery.

Arra-bob supporter were saying Mossad destroyed twin towers.
Now OBL confesses his crime.
So now Arra-bob will make OBL as an agent of Mossad.

Pathetic anti-Semites!

17

So the question is, whether Arafat is still incharge.

One news report coming out of West Bank suggested that leadership of Palestinian Authority has decided that Arafat is in no position to lead due to failing health and suspected dyslexia, and so consultations have begun for a succession plan.

However, today's news reports from Paris said that Arafat is still incharge.

18

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by antiobl: *

ha! A baseless accusation at best. You mean Mossad is the hidden hand behind PLO?

Wow man! we should award you with a PhD for this wonderful discovery.

Arra-bob supporter were saying Mossad destroyed twin towers.
Now OBL confesses his crime.
So now Arra-bob will make OBL as an agent of Mossad.

Pathetic anti-Semites!
[/QUOTE]

First of all get to know the word ANTI-SEMITE what th meanin of it is and what semite is.
Second follow history of PLO, Yasser Arafat and Islamic Jihad and Hisbullah.
Third get out of your hide out located it in South Central...finally get a life!

19

Finally some good news about mr. Arafat.

Arafat ‘is cheerful and better’
Crowds of supporters wave off Yasser Arafat from Ramallah
Arafat seemed frail as he left the West Bank earlier this week
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is feeling better, his aides say, as he undergoes medical examinations in a French army hospital near Paris.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Mr Arafat, 75, was cheerful and had managed a meal of cereal with milk and tea.

Another senior aide said medical tests had shown Mr Arafat was not suffering from any life-threatening condition.

However, doctors have yet to make any public comment on his condition.

The Palestinian Authority’s delegate in France, Leila Shahid, said medical staff were expected to reach a diagnosis on Wednesday.

We are in touch with the president and still receiving his instructions
Mahmoud Abbas
Former Palestinian Prime Minister

Worldwide concern for Arafat
In pictures: Arafat crisis
“The doctors exclude for the time being any possibility of leukaemia. There are other possibilities and the doctors are still exploring,” she said.

Mr Arafat has received many letters of support from well-wishers around the world, she said.

The hospital specialises in blood disorders. Doctors have been carrying out a series of medical tests including brain and body scans, as well as blood tests.

‘Fully aware’

Speaking from Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told the Associated Press news agency that Mr Arafat was feeling much better.

“He’s more lively. He’s less tired and we are awaiting a final assessment made by the French doctors about the diagnosis,” he said.

Finance Minister Salam told AP that Mr Arafat sounded coherent and alert during a five-minute telephone conversation.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei sits next to Yasser Arafat’s empty chair at a Palestinian National Security Council meeting
Mr Arafat’s chair has been left empty at meetings
The day-to-day affairs of the Palestinian Authority are in the hands of the Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei.

He has been meeting Palestinian officials over the weekend to help quash any suggestion of a power vacuum during Mr Arafat’s absence, says the BBC’s Peter Biles in Jerusalem.

Mr Qurei and former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas chaired a meeting of the Palestinian National Security Council on Sunday.

There was also a special two-hour session of the Palestinian legislative council.

The executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) met in Ramallah on Saturday without Mr Arafat for the first time.

Mr Abbas said he was in touch with Mr Arafat and that Palestinian institutions would continue to function normally.

Burial plans

Mr Arafat had been suffering stomach pains for more than two weeks before his condition worsened sharply on Wednesday night, prompting doctors to recommend treatment abroad.

Blood tests have revealed he has a low count of platelets, which are needed for clotting.

Mr Arafat left his battered compound in Ramallah for the first time in nearly three years. Israel’s government has said it will not hinder his return.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he would block any request by Palestinian officials to bury Yasser Arafat in Jerusalem.

“As long as I am prime minister, Arafat won’t be buried in Jerusalem,” Mr Sharon told his cabinet.

Mr Sharon is unwilling to bolster Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem by allowing the Palestinian leader to be buried there, says the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Jerusalem.

Israel has marked a possible burial site for Mr Arafat in the West Bank town of Abu Dis.

There are fears that denying Mr Arafat a burial site near the al-Aqsa mosque could inflame Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the event of his death, our correspondent says.

20

Arafat has slipped into a coma. Doctors are unsure about what is causing his illness. How can they not figure out what is wrong with him? He still hasn’t named a successor. I see dark days ahead. :frowning:

**Arafat’s health declines sharply

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health has deteriorated sharply at the Paris hospital where he is being treated for an unexplained illness. **

He is in intensive care, but aides have issued conflicting reports about whether he has fallen into a coma.

An emergency meeting of top Palestinian officials is due to take place in the West Bank to discuss the crisis.

Mr Arafat, 75, was flown to a military hospital in Paris last week. He has led the Palestinians since the 1960s.

At his battered Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, officials stated publicly that Mr Arafat was “absolutely not in a coma”.

But sources close to his entourage in Paris say he has become unconscious three times in the last two days, and he did not regain consciousness the third time.

Tests have shown that he has a low count of blood platelets, which are needed for clotting, but doctors are unsure of what is causing the condition.

**‘Called to Paris’ **

On Wednesday, Palestinian envoy Leila Shahid told the BBC that Mr Arafat’s health had suffered a setback, but gave no further details.

Arafat seemed frail as he left the West Bank last week
“Obviously in his case, there could be setbacks at times and this is a setback,” Ms Shahid told Reuters news agency.

“Tomorrow [Thursday], the doctors will give a very clear and direct explanation and report on what is happening,” she said.

Ms Shahid said she would give more details of Mr Arafat’s condition at a news conference in Paris on Thursday afternoon at 1600 local time (1500 GMT).

French military doctors have refused to make any comment on Mr Arafat’s condition.

**‘No leukaemia’ **

Mr Arafat was flown to the French capital last Friday with a mystery illness from his headquarters in Ramallah.

At the time, he was said to have collapsed after suffering from what was first described as severe gastric flu.

Doctors say they have found no trace of leukaemia or any other cancer. They have been checking for a viral infection.

Earlier, a senior aide relayed Mr Arafat’s congratulations to US President George W Bush on his re-election.

“He hopes that Bush’s second term will be an important opportunity for Bush to secure the requirements for peace in the Middle East and to guarantee the just national rights of the Palestinian people,” said Mohammad Rashid.

Israeli security chiefs have discussed Mr Arafat’s condition at their weekly security briefing.

Mr Arafat left his headquarters in besieged Ramallah last week after Israel said it would not prevent his return.

There is no clear line of succession should Mr Arafat be unable continue in power. He has not anointed a successor, although the parliamentary speaker would take over temporarily.