Ailing Arafat will be flown to Paris for treatment

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.

An evacuation by helicopter would mark the first time in nearly three years Mr Arafat leaves the battered compound to which he was confined by Israel.

Israel announced it would permit Mr Arafat to go abroad and return, in effect lifting its travel ban imposed in 2002.

In the past, Israel said that Mr Arafat was free to leave the West Bank, but refused to guarantee his return.

At nightfall, Mr Arafat’s wife, Suha, and dozens of senior Palestinian officials arrived at Mr Arafat’s headquarters for the final arrangements.

Mrs Arafat lives in Paris and last saw her husband in 2001.

For the past two weeks, Mr Arafat had been treated at a two-room clinic at his headquarters.

His aides initially said Mr Arafat was suffering from a bad case of the flu, while doctors said he had a large gallstone.

Israeli officials have speculated he is suffering from cancer in the digestive tract. On Wednesday, he vomited, collapsed and fell unconscious for about 10 minutes, according to a bodyguard.

Palestinian officials have been trying to play down Mr Arafat’s health problems, saying he performed prayers before dawn yesterday and ate a light breakfast of cornflakes and milk.

Yesterday evening, Mr Arafat’s aides released two photos showing him sitting in a chair, wearing blue pyjamas and a dark stocking cap and broadly smiling as he posed with his doctors. It wasn’t clear when the photos were taken.

However, a close associate said the Palestinian leader spent most of the day sleeping. When he awoke, he was moved into a wheelchair because he was very weak and could not stand up, the associate said on condition of anonymity. Mr Arafat has been unable to hold down food, and also suffers from diarrhoea. At times, Mr Arafat appeared confused, not recognising some of his visitors, he added.

Mr Arafat has been confined to the sandbagged, partially demolished compound since May 2002. He has been kept inside both by occasional Israeli military blockades and by threats that he would not be allowed to return if he leaves.

Israel, fearing it will be blamed for any further deterioration in Mr Arafat’s condition, said yesterday it is ready to lift its travel ban and allow Mr Arafat to leave.

Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ahmed Tibi, an Arafat confidante, said the promise had come from Dov Weisglass, a senior aide of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

However, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sceptical.

“If Arafat wants to come to Egypt, it would be difficult to get Israeli guarantees to let him go back,” Mr Mubarak told reporters in Cairo.

Mr Sharon, in a telephone conversation with his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qureia, agreed to allow Mr Arafat to be flown abroad for treatment if necessary.

However, Israeli security officials said the Palestinians have only requested, for now, to take Mr Arafat to a local hospital.

One Palestinian official said Mr Arafat has created a special committee consisting of Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zaanoun, head of the Palestinian National Council, to run the PLO and the Palestinian Authority while he is ill.

But when asked if Mr Arafat had set up such a committee, Mr Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said: “nothing like that.”

In Israel, defence officials met to discuss the fallout from Mr Arafat’s possible death. Israel has prepared contingency plans, including how to deal with possible riots and prevent Palestinian attempts to bury Mr Arafat in central Jerusalem.

Israel has marked a possible burial site for Mr Arafat in the suburb of Abu Dis, in the West Bank, security officials said.

The Haaretz daily said Israel has taken the location of the plot into consideration in planning the route of its West Bank separation barrier.

Mr Arafat has been ill for two weeks, but reports about his ailment have varied widely.

Palestinian officials said he had the flu.

Israeli officials speculated he might have stomach cancer, but two of his doctors said on Wednesday a blood test and a biopsy of tissue from his digestive tract showed no evidence of that.

On Tuesday, a hospital official said Mr Arafat was suffering from a large gallstone.

The gallstone, while extremely painful, is not life-threatening and can be easily treated, the official said.