Arafat ne koma!
PARIS (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was in a coma and in critical condition in the intensive care unit at a French military hospital on Thursday after his health suddenly deteriorated, aides said.
They said doctors carrying out tests on the 75-year-old leader since he was airlifted to France last Friday still did not know what was wrong with him, despite ruling out leukemia.
"Arafat is in a coma and in a critical condition," a senior Palestinian official told Reuters. Aides had earlier said he was in serious condition in the unit where he was moved on Wednesday at around 5 p.m. (11 a.m. EST).
A briefing by the hospital had been expected at 11 a.m. (5 a.m. EST) but was put off without any explanation.
"New tests have been carried out including an endoscopy (visual internal examination). Nothing was found out from those tests," a senior aide said earlier on Thursday.
Arafat, for decades a symbol of the Palestinian struggle with Israel for a state, was rushed to France from the West Bank last Friday with severe stomach pains, diarrhea and vomiting.
Arafat's slide into illness has raised fears of chaos among Palestinians locked in a 4-year-old uprising, and the death of a leader Israel and Washington see as an obstacle to peace could shuffle the cards in the Middle East conflict.
The French doctors said on Tuesday that Arafat was responding to treatment although aides said the Palestinian leader could remain in the hospital in a southwestern Paris suburb for several more weeks.
The doctors did not immediately comment on Arafat's latest condition.
DOCTORS SEEK EXPLANATIONS
Leila Shahid, the Palestinian's permanent envoy to Paris, earlier said that there was a setback in Arafat's health and that doctors were trying to find out what had caused that.
"Obviously in his case, there could be setbacks at times and this is a setback," said Shahid. "(On Thursday), the doctors will give a very clear and direct explanation and report on what is happening."
Arafat, loved by most Palestinians and reviled by many Israelis, has named no successor since emerging from exile under interim peace accords with Israel in the early 1990s.
Aides have been keen to present Arafat as still in charge. He has temporarily delegated powers to two men -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader's number two in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Palestinian officials said Farouq Kaddoumi, another senior PLO official, had arrived in Paris to see Arafat.
Earlier on Wednesday, Arafat had sent congratulations to President Bush on his re-election. Bush has backed the idea of a Palestinian state as part of a peace deal but has tried to shut Arafat out of Middle East decision making.
Both Washington and Israel accuse Arafat of fomenting violence in the uprising against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank that broke out in 2000, a charge he denies.
Until he was airlifted to France, Arafat had been effectively confined to his shell-shattered Ramallah headquarters by Israeli forces for 2-1/2 years.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
PARIS (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was in a coma and in critical condition in the intensive care unit at a French military hospital on Thursday after his health suddenly deteriorated, aides said.
They said doctors carrying out tests on the 75-year-old leader since he was airlifted to France last Friday still did not know what was wrong with him, despite ruling out leukemia.
"Arafat is in a coma and in a critical condition," a senior Palestinian official told Reuters. Aides had earlier said he was in serious condition in the unit where he was moved on Wednesday at around 5 p.m. (11 a.m. EST).
A briefing by the hospital had been expected at 11 a.m. (5 a.m. EST) but was put off without any explanation.
"New tests have been carried out including an endoscopy (visual internal examination). Nothing was found out from those tests," a senior aide said earlier on Thursday.
Arafat, for decades a symbol of the Palestinian struggle with Israel for a state, was rushed to France from the West Bank last Friday with severe stomach pains, diarrhea and vomiting.
Arafat's slide into illness has raised fears of chaos among Palestinians locked in a 4-year-old uprising, and the death of a leader Israel and Washington see as an obstacle to peace could shuffle the cards in the Middle East conflict.
The French doctors said on Tuesday that Arafat was responding to treatment although aides said the Palestinian leader could remain in the hospital in a southwestern Paris suburb for several more weeks.
The doctors did not immediately comment on Arafat's latest condition.
DOCTORS SEEK EXPLANATIONS
Leila Shahid, the Palestinian's permanent envoy to Paris, earlier said that there was a setback in Arafat's health and that doctors were trying to find out what had caused that.
"Obviously in his case, there could be setbacks at times and this is a setback," said Shahid. "(On Thursday), the doctors will give a very clear and direct explanation and report on what is happening."
Arafat, loved by most Palestinians and reviled by many Israelis, has named no successor since emerging from exile under interim peace accords with Israel in the early 1990s.
Aides have been keen to present Arafat as still in charge. He has temporarily delegated powers to two men -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader's number two in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Palestinian officials said Farouq Kaddoumi, another senior PLO official, had arrived in Paris to see Arafat.
Earlier on Wednesday, Arafat had sent congratulations to President Bush on his re-election. Bush has backed the idea of a Palestinian state as part of a peace deal but has tried to shut Arafat out of Middle East decision making.
Both Washington and Israel accuse Arafat of fomenting violence in the uprising against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank that broke out in 2000, a charge he denies.
Until he was airlifted to France, Arafat had been effectively confined to his shell-shattered Ramallah headquarters by Israeli forces for 2-1/2 years.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
