With Yasser Arafat in “the final phase of his life”, the Palestinian leader’s political heirs completed his burial arrangements today and made plans for a funeral as soon as Friday.

An Israeli Cabinet minister said today it was ``clear'' Yasser Arafat was brain dead and was being kept on a life support machine.

Physicians specialising in the treatment of leukaemia were examining ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today to determine whether he suffers from the blood disorder, Palestinian sources said.