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.

With no indication who will succeed the 75-year-old Mr Arafat, who has dominated Palestinian affairs for more than three decades, some aides said he might be moved to Egypt, from where he could be flown home more quickly if he died. “He has liver failure. His condition is not improving,” said a Palestinian official in the West Bank, who declined to be named. “One option being considered is moving him to Cairo.”

The official said any decision to move him could be taken only by the Palestinian leadership. He added that a low count of platelets, which help the blood clot, meant blood transfusions were proving difficult.

Addressing the delicate issue of where Mr Arafat should be buried if he dies, Israel said it had completed preparations for the Palestinian president’s eventual burial in the Gaza Strip. But Mr Arafat has said he wants to be laid to rest in Jerusalem.

In Ramallah, Mr Arafat’s fellow leaders decided to carry out a plan to restore law and order in the West Bank and Gaza. The plan calls for more security forces to be deployed. Militants will be banned from carrying arms except when confronting Israel.