Arafat died at a military hospital outside Paris in November 2004 after a long
illness and conspiracy theories have surrounded his death ever since, in
part because his widow has persistently refused to release his medical
records.
But doctors have indicated that there was nothing to suggest that he had been
poisoned, while also admitting that the cause the illness that killed him
had never been identified.
Specialists at the Institute of Radiation Physics in Lausanne, said they had
found levels of Polonium-210 on some of his personal effects that were
provided to them by the pan-Arab television network Al Jazeera.
The most significant traces were found on his toothbrush and on a urine stain
in his underpants – potentially important indicators that Arafat had
ingested the isotope.
But the scientists said conclusive proof that Arafat had been poisoned could
only found if his body was examined.
Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB officer killed in London in 2006, died after
swallowing a massive dose of Polonium-2010.
Arafat died at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada. Israel, which
blamed him for the violence, ordered troops to surround his compound in the
West Bank city of Ramallah, keeping him under effective house arrest.
Israeli government officials dismissed the renewed speculation that Mossad
could have been responsible for Arafat’s death.
“The circumstances of Arafat’s death are not a mystery,” said Yigal
Palmor, a spokesman for Israel’s foreign ministry. “He was treated in
France, in a French hospital by French doctors and they have all the medical
information.”
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