Critically ill Arafat suffers from liver failure

YASSER ARAFAT, who is critically ill in a Paris hospital, has suffered liver failure, a Palestinian official said yesterday as subordinates decided in his absence to enforce a law and order plan in Palestinian areas.

Mr Arafat’s deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie will go to France today to visit the president in hospital, Palestinian officials said.

Mr Abbas and Mr Qurie, overseeing Palestinian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza since Mr Arafat was flown to Paris, decided to go to France so they could be “personally reassured” about his condition, one of the officials said.