Arafat: Confusion over 'death'

2004-11-04 19:35

Clamart - Confusion reigned on Thursday about the fate of ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat amid conflicting reports about whether he was dead or alive.

In Brussels, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at around 16:40 GMT: "Mr Arafat passed away a quarter of an hour ago."

But one of his aides said Juncker quickly retracted the statement made as European leaders gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit.

"We're withdrawing this information," the Juncker aide said, explaining that the Luxembourg leader had spoken to French President Jacques Chirac, "who confirmed to him that Mr Arafat is not dead".

Israeli private television and military radio had also earlier reported that the 75-year-old Arafat, who was flown to France for treatment a week ago, had passed away citing "French sources" without giving further details.

Clinical situation 'complex'/b>

But outside the hospital a top medical official for the French defence forces, General Christian Estripeau, said: "President Arafat is not dead."

"His clinical situation has become more complex," he told reporters at the Percy hospital at Clamart, outside Paris, in a brief statement.

"President Arafat remains in the Percy hospital, where he has been transferred on Wednesday afternoon to a unit suited to his pathology."

Palestinian communications minister Azzam al-Ahmed also denied reports of the Palestinian leader's death.

"It is wrong. If the president was dead, the whole world would know," the minister told AFP.

"But it is true that he is in a very critical condition," he added.

A US state department official said Washington had been told by French authorities that Arafat was "in a critical but semi-conscious state" at a hospital outside Paris.

Earlier on Thursday French medical sources and Palestinian officials said Arafat's health had deteriorated dramatically Wednesday and he was in a "critical condition".

Successor

Arafat, who has dominated Palestinian politics for the last four decades, has designated no successor as head of the Palestinian Authority.

His former prime minister, Mahmud Abbas, has been acting as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Arafat's Fatah faction.

Current premier Ahmed Qorei has been placed in overall charge of the Palestinian Authority in Arafat's absence.

- AFP