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Palestinian Leaders in Emergency Meeting over Arafat

Thread ID: 15545 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2004-11-04

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AntiZOGNewEnglander [OP]

2004-11-04 10:59 | User Profile

"PA"

Israeli security chiefs and Palestinian leaders met separately today to discuss Yasser Arafat’s deteriorating health, after the 75-year-old Palestinian leader was rushed to the intensive care unit at a French military hospital.

Palestinian officials said Arafat repeatedly lost consciousness in recent hours, but could not confirm reports he had lapsed into a coma.

Israeli media, citing Israeli intelligence and Palestinian officials, said Arafat suffered organ failure and that he had lost consciousness several times. The Maariv daily said Arafat’s condition was “very critical”.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said reports that Arafat’s organs had failed were “unfounded,” and described Arafat’s condition as “stable and serious”.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, senior Palestinian officials convened an emergency meeting after learning of the deterioration in Arafat’s condition, said Sakher Habash, a member of the Central Committee of the ruling Fatah movement.

Israeli army commanders, led by military chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, discussed Arafat’s condition at their weekly briefing Thursday, Israeli security officials said on condition of anonymity. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz was to join the discussion later in the day.

Israel has prepared contingency plans for Arafat’s death, including how to deal with possible Palestinian protests and how to prevent attempts to bury him in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he would not permit Arafat to be buried in the disputed city, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as their capital.

Arafat was airlifted to Paris last week for urgent medical treatment and tests for a still unknown disease. Initially, Palestinian officials said Arafat was recovering from a harsh bout of the flu, but his situation rapidly worsened.

In recent years, there has been great speculation about Arafat’s medical condition, and it has been reported that he has Parkinson’s disease, but that has never been officially confirmed.

Shimon Peres, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Arafat in 1994 for signing an interim peace deal, said the Palestinian leader’s death would have great impact on the region and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“What has happened is that a new leadership is forming,” Peres told Israel’s Army Radio. The new leadership appears to be “more firmly ground and also has great determination to bring an end to the terrible problem of the Palestinian nation,” Peres added.

“The Palestinians have to correct their main error which is the takeover of Palestinian politics by terrorists and I hope that the group that will come to leadership understands this and will act accordingly,” Peres said.

[url]http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3715063[/url]