The body of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may be exhumed after new evidence emerged that he might have been killed with radioactive poison.

The Palestinian parliament today decided to appoint a committee of politicians to investigate what killed long-time leader Yasser Arafat, alleging Israel involvement.

A MASSIVE stroke caused by an infection killed longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last year, though it remains unclear what led to the rapid deterioration of his health.

France gave Yasser Arafat’s medical records to his nephew today, despite objections from the late Palestinian leader’s widow.

Yasser Arafat’s nephew plans to collect the Palestinian leader’s medical records today, but faces objections from Arafat’s widow, whose lawyers insist is the only one who has legal rights to the file.

Yasser Arafat’s funeral service began with humble prayers today and ended with an almost triumphant procession, his wooden coffin set on a gun carriage and draped in the Palestinian flag, preceded by a military band in scarlet and followed by a crowd of presidents and kings.

Intense emotions of both sorrow and defiance continue across the Middle East today, the day Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is honoured by international dignitaries with a military funeral in Egypt.

YASSER ARAFAT, the guerrilla icon turned Nobel Peace Prize winner who ended up isolated and locked in renewed conflict with Israel, died yesterday, his dream of a Palestinian state unfulfilled. He was 75.

Yasser Arafat’s wife and Palestinian officials are fighting over his money before he has even been buried, but the problems is that they have to find it first, writes Paul O’Brien.

IN towns and refugee camps across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets with wails of grief and volleys of gunfire after the death of Yasser Arafat.

The body of Yasser Arafat, revered as the champion of Palestinian statehood and reviled as an opportunistic terrorist, was flown to Egypt tonight as the Middle East attempted to move forward in the search for peace.

Yasser Arafat, who triumphantly forced his people’s plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, died today, aged 75, Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat confirmed.

Yasser Arafat will be buried at the battered West Bank headquarters that had been his virtual prison for the last three years, his aides decided after the deeply comatose Palestinian leader suffered another downturn.

A top Islamic cleric was due at Yasser Arafat’s hospital bedside in Paris today after the Palestinian leader’s coma deepened and his caretaker government chose a burial site.

Yasser Arafat hovered on the brink of death in a Paris hospital tonight - being kept alive artificially while a cleric flew from the West Bank to be by his side.

Comatose Yasser Arafat’s condition worsened today as Palestinian officials visited their critically ill leader, ignoring his wife’s angry objections.

YASSER ARAFAT’S wife yesterday accused his top lieutenants of seeking to grab control from her ailing husband, nearly torpedoing a visit by top Palestinian officials in the first sign of an open power struggle.

YASSER ARAFAT’S wife Suha, long dismissed by Palestinians as a spoiled socialite, had not seen her husband for years until he fell sick last month.

Senior Palestinian leaders including Ahmed Qureia and Mahmoud Abbas arrived in France tonight in a bid to check on the medical status of Yasser Arafat.

Palestinian leaders flew to France tonight to confront Yasser Arafat’s wife who accused his top lieutenants of seeking to grab control from her ailing husband.

The caretaker Palestinian leadership decided today to travel to Yasser Arafat’s bedside, reversing a decision to call off the trip after being lambasted by the ailing 75-year-old leader’s wife.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath has said the caretaker leadership will travel to Paris after all to see ailing leader Yasser Arafat.

Palestinian leaders abruptly called off a visit to Yasser Arafat's bedside today, after the ailing leader's wife accused them of trying to depose her husband.

Yasser Arafat clung on to life today and is not brain dead, his spokeswoman said.

Yasser Arafat is in a “reversible coma” but not brain dead, his spokeswoman said today amid reports about the 75-year-old Palestinian leader’s condition.

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

PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat, suffering from a serious illness believed to be leukaemia, was undergoing tests last night in France, ending three years of Israeli-imposed confinement at his West Bank compound.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat flew to Paris for treatment of a serious illness today, breaking free from nearly three years of Israeli-imposed confinement at his battered compound, but leaving behind a people in disarray.

THE ailing Yasser Arafat will be flown to Paris for treatment, one of his doctors said yesterday after the Palestinian leader spent most of the day sleeping, was confused at times and unable to hold down food.

Ailing Yasser Arafat performed Muslim prayers before dawn today, but his condition remains serious and a team of doctors flying in from Arab countries will decide whether he needs to be transferred from his compound to a hospital.

Religious leader Yasser Arafat is in a stable condition after collapsing this evening.

YASSER Arafat diverted nearly $1 billion in public funds to ensure his political survival, accountants hired by Arafat’s own finance ministry have reported.