Palestinians fear chaos as Arafat’s health hangs in balance

PALESTINIANS feared on Thursday that their ailing leader Yasser Arafat was near death and they could face a chaotic and possibly bloody power struggle if he goes.

Many in the West Bank and Gaza were glued to radio and television broadcasts mired in confusion over contradictory statements by the aides of the 75-year-old president on whether he had slipped into a coma at a French hospital.

Reports earlier in the day that he had died have been denied. But with signs pointing to sharp deterioration in his condition, Palestinians voiced worries about losing the man they revere as the father of their nationalist struggle, as well as the instability expected to be ushered in by his death.

"It will be a catastrophe. If Abu Ammar dies, I am afraid the Palestinian cause will die too," said Hassan Ali, an 18-year-old student, referring to Arafat by his nom de guerre.

In Israel, where officials have long accused Arafat of fomenting Palestinian violence, security services were also bracing for his death.

With expectations of an outpouring of Palestinian grief and protest, security has been boosted at Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank for fear of mass rioting against them, Israeli television has reported. Despite Palestinian Authority calls for calm, many Palestinians are concerned the political vacuum that Arafat leaves behind after decades of jealously guarding power and undercutting rivals could trigger serious internal conflict.

"Only God knows when he will die, but it will be a great loss as it will open the doors to civil strife," said Tamam Hamoud, a government employee in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Taxi driver Abu Hamdi agreed. "I am afraid Palestinians would fight one another in Arafat's absence. No one else has the ability to resolve problems at home," he said.

Palestinians point to recent outbreaks of fighting between security force factions in Gaza as a harbinger of life after Arafat.

Last month, a Gaza security commander who is Arafat's cousin and said by foes to be part of a corrupt elite survived a car bombing against his convoy. At other times, rival security men have waged street battles and abducted opponents.

The recent wave of unrest confronted Arafat with his biggest internal challenge since he returned from exile a decade ago, after interim peace accords that gave Palestinians a measure of self-rule on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Palestinians had begun voicing frustration at Arafat's failure to clean up corruption in his administration and make progress toward statehood after four years of uprising.

But they have also been incensed by US and Israeli efforts to bypass him. Arafat has denied repeated Israeli accusations that he is ultimately responsible for Palestinian suicide bombings for failing to rein in militants behind such attacks.