Speculation Runs Wild Over Arafat's Health
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 2, 2004
Filed at 2:01 a.m. ET
CLAMART, France (AP) -- Yasser Arafat's French physicians are refusing to discuss his health crisis, leading to rampant speculation about the Palestinian leader's dramatic deterioration.
One Palestinian official ruled out leukemia, while another said it was not a concern ``for the time being.'' A medical guessing game has ensued, with talk of possible blood disorders, poisoning, a viral infection.
Israel's chief of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, did little to clear things up. He told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that Arafat's ``situation is between full recovery and death,'' said an Israeli official who briefed reporters on the meeting.
``Arafat's condition is improving,'' the official quoted Zeevi-Farkash as saying. ``The blood transfusions have helped. We don't know if it's viral infection, perhaps mono, or it's leukemia or another cancer.''
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, however, has said all types of cancer have been ruled out.
As the ailing 75-year-old Arafat entered his fourth day of emergency treatment at a French military hospital Monday, French doctors maintained their policy of silence.
French physicians have refused to comment on the Palestinian leader's health until a diagnosis can be made based on a battery of tests that started immediately after his arrival Friday.
Together, Israelis and Palestinians are waiting impatiently for that diagnosis -- though it was unclear when it will come.
Even the due date for a diagnosis was unclear. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat had said a medical report would be issued by early Tuesday. But Mohammed Rashid, a close Arafat aide, said results were expected Wednesday. Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said the results might not be available until Thursday.
Arafat has been ill for two weeks and took a turn for the worse Wednesday, collapsing and briefly losing consciousness. Initial blood tests performed in the West Bank revealed a low blood platelet count. French physicians at the Hopital d'Instruction des Armees de Percy, gave Arafat a platelet transfusion shortly after his arrival.
Platelets are blood components that aid clotting. A low count indicates a possible problem with the bone marrow, where blood cells are made. There are many causes of platelet decline, ranging in severity from minor to life-threatening.
Poisoning, either from the toxic side effects of medicine or food contamination, is only one of many potential explanations for the blood condition. An initial concern was leukemia -- which counts among its symptoms a low platelet count.
``Arafat does not have leukemia,'' his aide, Rashid, said Sunday. ``It's been ruled out. Rule it out.''
Arafat's envoy in Paris, Leila Shahid, sounded less certain. ``The doctors exclude for the time being any possibility of leukemia,'' she said, also Sunday.
The Israeli parliament's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee discussed Arafat's condition in its weekly meeting Monday. A military intelligence official told the closed-door meeting that Arafat apparently suffers from a severe viral infection or cancer.
Israelis, including government officials, criticized the intelligence network for failing to track Arafat's deteriorating health.
``If there is one figure that intelligence is following since 1968 every day and every hour, and he is not too hard to follow ... it is Arafat,'' Akiva Eldar, a commentator, said in Israel's Army Radio morning talk show with Rafi Reshef.
``We didn't know that his health was so bad. Everything that happened at the Muqata (Arafat's headquarters) a couple of days ago came as a complete surprise,'' he said.
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Arafat's ``situation is between full recovery and death.
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Still no conclusive evidence one way or the other. Why all the secrecy?