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Middle East and North Africa

Palestine waits for reports on whether Arafat was poisoned

The French investigation and findings were not final when rumors were circulated that polonium had been the cause of Arafat’s death

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 16 (Itar-Tass) - Palestine waits for reports confirming or disproving Yasser Arafat’s death from polonium poisoning, Nabil Shaath, Fatah Commissioner for International Relations, told a news conference on Tuesday.

“We have not received reports by either Russian or Swiss or French investigators,” he said. “We were asked to wait, because this is a major examination of toxic materials that could have remained in the body of Arafat,” he added.

“The French investigation and findings were not final when rumors were circulated that polonium had been the cause of Arafat’s death,” Shaat continued. “This is what must be ascertained, we are waiting for official findings. We expect to soon get the results. We want to know the truth about what happened with our leader,” the Fatah member said.

The decision to open the grave of the Palestinian leader was made at the request of his widow, which she filed in connection with indirect evidence that Arafat could have been poisoned with polonium-210. The exhumation of his remains from the mausoleum in Ramallah (West Bank) was made on November 27, 2012.

Yasser Arafat died on November 11, 2004 in a French military hospital in the suburbs of Paris at the age of 75. The circumstances around his death are still unclear. According to the official version of French medics, the Palestinian leader died of a massive stroke, caused by strong internal haemorrhage as a result of some unknown infection.

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