[Mb-civic] Palestinian Official Says Arafat in Coma

[Barbara Siomos]

  Thursday 04 November 2004

  PARIS - Yasser Arafat has lapsed into a coma in a French hospital,
a senior Palestinian official said Thursday, a day after the Palestinian
leader was rushed to intensive care following a sharp deterioration in
his health.

  French President Jacques Chirac went to the hospital and saw
Arafat and his wife, "to whom he expressed his best wishes," Chirac's
office said. The president also met members of the Palestinian Authority
and doctors "who are doing everything possible for the health of the
president," Chirac's office said.

  The visit lasted about 30 minutes. Chirac did not speak to
reporters.

  French television station LCI quoted an anonymous French medical
official as saying Arafat was in an "irreversible coma" and "intubated"
a process that usually involves threading a tube down the windpipe to
the lungs. The tube is often connected to a life support machine to help
the patient breathe.

  The Palestinian official would not say when Arafat lost
consciousness. Two Arafat aides in Paris denied he was in a coma, but
the senior Palestinian with close access to the medical team insisted
Arafat was comatose.

  A prolonged Arafat incapacitation or death could have profound
impact on the Middle East. There are fears of unrest among Palestinian
factions, which Arafat, viewed as a national symbol by even some who
opposed him, was largely able to prevent. Furthermore, chaos in the West
Bank and Gaza could make any cooperation with Israel even more
difficult.

  On the other hand, Israel and the United States have in recent
years shunned Arafat as a terrorist and an obstacle to peace, and his
replacement by a new leadership could open the door to renewed peace
talks. Such a scenario could affect Israel's current plans to pull
soldiers and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in a unilateral move not
coordinated with the Palestinians.

  French hospital officials would not comment on Arafat's condition.
The 75-year-old leader was rushed to the Percy Military Training
Hospital outside Paris for emergency treatment Friday. Since then, his
condition has largely remained a mystery, with Palestinians issuing
conflicting reports.

  Israeli media, citing Israeli intelligence officials, said Arafat
suffered organ failure and lost consciousness several times. The Maariv
daily said his condition was "very critical."

  Anxious Palestinian leaders held an emergency meeting in the West
Bank on Thursday. Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said top officials were
in touch with Arafat's hospital every 30 minutes to check on his
condition.

  "The Palestinian leadership is in constant meeting to follow up on
the president's health," Shaath said from Ramallah, where leaders of the
PLO and Arafat's Fatah movement were meeting.

  There is concern in Israel about the potential for chaos in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip if Arafat dies or is incapacitated to the point
where he is unable to perform politically. The Israeli army has a plan,
called "new leaf," to deal with the fallout from Arafat's death,
including possible Palestinian riots.

  The Israeli military had not yet moved forces to anticipated
problem areas, but commanders were told to be on standby.

  Israeli security officials were meeting Thursday to study the
repercussions in the Middle East should Arafat die, Israeli officials
said. Top officials, including Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and
Army Chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, were to focus their weekly meeting on
reports that Arafat's health took a sudden turn for the worse, the
officials said.

  Among Israel's plans are ways to prevent Arafat from being buried
in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he would not permit
Arafat to be buried in the city, claimed by both Israel and the
Palestinians as their capital.

  Cabinet official Saeb Erekat called reports Arafat had lapsed into
a coma "baseless." Erekat told The Associated Press in Ramallah that
Arafat's wife, Suha, told him Arafat's condition was "stable but
difficult." Shaath said, "He is not getting better but not getting worse
either. He is being examined. He is not in a coma. There is no
explanation for what has happened."

  Mohammed Rashid, Arafat's financial adviser, also denied that
Arafat was in a coma. "Last night, several blood and bone marrow tests
were done that required the president to be in an isolation unit for
several hours, and there is no truth to any of the reports that he is in
a coma," Rashid said in Paris.

  Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief, accused
Israel of spreading rumors. "These unfounded reports are not coming from
French medical teams, these are leaks from the Israeli side," he said in
Paris. "Leaking such rumors will only complicate things and also
complicate the situation within the Palestinian public."

  Earlier Thursday, Palestinian officials said Arafat had lost
consciousness repeatedly and described his condition as extremely
serious. Efforts to reach Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France,
were unsuccessful Thursday.

  Arafat's condition worsened Wednesday and he was rushed into
intensive care. Doctors do not know the cause of the blood and digestive
disorders uncovered over the past few days.

  Israel Radio reported that Mahmoud Abbas, No. 2 in the PLO
hierarchy and a former prime minister, was on his way to Paris on
Thursday.

  Arafat, who fell ill three weeks ago, was flown to France after
passing out briefly at his West Bank headquarters. He was initially
described as having a bad flu, with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
Palestinian officials insist publicly that leukemia and other forms of
cancer, as well as any type of poisoning, have been ruled out.

  The officials, undoubtedly conscious of the anxiety at home at the
thought of a future without Arafat who has led the Palestinians for 40
years with no obvious successor, previously described his condition as
improving and said more tests were being done.

  Rashid said early Thursday the medical analysis was "deepening a
little bit" but he remained confident Arafat would recover. "There are
no setbacks," he said. "It's no secret he's ill, that's why he's in
France. But there is no threat, there is no danger, no serious
degradation."

  On Wednesday, Shahid said Arafat felt well enough to ask about the
U.S. presidential election. An aide later issued a statement in Arafat's
name congratulating President Bush on his re-election.
  -------