Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

File photo of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Muhammed Muheisen/AP/Press Association Images
Arafat

Body of Yasser Arafat to be exhumed next month

The push to re-examine circumstances surrounding Arafat’s death came after a Swiss lab recently discovered traces of a deadly radioactive isotope on clothes said to be his.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS FROM France will exhume Yasser Arafat’s remains in November to try to find out how the Palestinian leader died, a French official has said.

The official said the team from France will arrive sometime between 24 November and 26 November in the West bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian authorities confirmed the timetable and said a separate Swiss investigative team would also arrive in Ramallah at the same time. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

However, Darcy Christen, a spokeswoman for Switzerland’s Institute of Radiation Physics that is expected to conduct the autopsy for the Swiss team, said no date has been confirmed yet.

The push to re-examine circumstances surrounding Arafat’s November 2004 death came after a Swiss lab recently discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes said to be his.

The discovery revived suspicions of poisoning. The immediate cause of Arafat’s death was a stroke, but the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear.

Investigators from France and Switzerland are to conduct parallel probes into Arafat’s death, acting separately on behalf of Arafat’s widow Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, who each had misgivings about the other’s investigation. Suha Arafat formally asked for a French investigation into his death this summer.

While their probes are separate, the French and the Swiss are to visit the grave together and will only be allowed one chance to draw samples, according to Palestinian officials.

Earlier in October, the Palestinians said the process of digging out Arafat’s remains will be conducted privately.

But keeping the event a secret will likely be a challenge since Arafat lies in a giant mausoleum outside government headquarters in a central area of Ramallah.

Author
Associated Foreign Press
Your Voice
Readers Comments
13
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.