Arafat 'close to death'

2004-11-09 16:07

Clamart - Yasser Arafat is in a "very difficult and serious" situation, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Tuesday after he and other officials met their critically ill leader's doctors.

Arafat is being treated in the Percy Military Training Hospital outside Paris.

Asked after about reports that he was close to death, Nabil Shaath said: "Only God knows the answer to that."

"His situation is very difficult and critical," he told reporters.

He did not say what the diagnosis was, or whether the delegation had actually seen Arafat face to face.

Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat has since told AFP that Yasser Arafat was "critical but still alive", denying reports that he had died.

 

   

 

- AP