Arafat in intensive care undergoing tests
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-04 16:48

Yasser Arafat was in intensive care undergoing fresh tests Thursday after his still-unexplained condition took a sudden turn for the worse, Palestinian officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian leader's condition had seriously deteriorated Wednesday and he was rushed into intensive care at the French military hospital where he has been undergoing treatment for a week.

In Israel, the 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."

Doctors still don't know the cause of the blood and digestive disorders uncovered over the past few days, the sources said, adding that Arafat was undergoing additional tests.

French hospital and military officials declined to comment.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is shown during a meeting at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Sept. 26, 2004. [AP/file]

Israel Radio reported that Mahmoud Abbas, No. 2 in the hierarchy of Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization and his first prime minister, was on his way Thursday morning to Paris to see him.

Yet Arafat's top aides denied there had been any setback and accused Israel of spreading rumors. The report first aired on Israel's Channel Two television.

"These unfounded reports are not coming from French medical teams, these are leaks from the Israeli side," said Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief.

"Leaking such rumors will only complicate things and also complicate the situation within the Palestinian public," he told reporters in Paris.

Arafat, who has been ill for three weeks, was flown to the French military hospital on Friday after passing out briefly at his west Bank headquarters.

He was initially described as having a bad flu, with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

Palestinian officials insist publicly leukemia and other forms of cancer, as well as any type of poisoning, have been ruled out.

Undoubtedly conscious of the anxiety back home at the thought of a future without Arafat — who has led the Palestinians for 40 years with no obvious successor — they have previously described his condition as improving and said more tests were being done.

Khaled Salem, Arafat's top aide, said early Thursday that the medical analysis was "deepening a little bit" but he remained confident Arafat would recover.

"There are no setbacks," he told reporters outside the hospital. "It's no secret he's ill, that's why he's in France, but there is no threat, there is no danger, no serious degradation."

However, top Israeli security officials were meeting Thursday to study the repercussions in the Middle East should Arafat die, said Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

Attending the meeting are Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Army Chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the officials said.

Speculation in Israel has ranged from a viral infection to stomach cancer.

His brother, Fathi Arafat, has had stomach cancer for four years and is currently hospitalized in Cairo, Egypt, with an advanced stage, according to doctors there.

On Tuesday, one source who said he had been briefed on the Palestinian leader's status told The Associated Press that his condition was "fatal" — but he gave no further details and the claim could not be confirmed.

On Wednesday, Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France who has been serving as Arafat's official spokeswoman in Paris, said Arafat felt well enough to ask about the U.S. presidential election. An aide later issued a statement in Arafat's name congratulating President Bush on his re-election.

Efforts early Thursday to reach Shahid were unsuccessful.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel is tracking Arafat's health "very carefully.

"Our goal is to prepare for the day after, if and when he dies," he told Israel Radio.

Israeli intelligence was widely criticized after it was caught off guard last week by the sudden deterioration in Arafat's health.

Shalom said his condition "is very serious," but gave no details. At the same time, he said, "it is too soon to eulogize Yasser Arafat."

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