Arafat tests negative for leukaemia

Initial results from a battery of tests on Yasser Arafat have uncovered no signs of leukaemia, Palestinian officials said today.

But blood doctors were still probing the cause of the Palestinian leader’s dramatic deterioration in health, they said.

“Arafat does not have leukaemia,” Mohammed Rashid, a close Arafat aide, said. “It’s been ruled out. Rule it out.”

Results from additional tests to determine what was wrong were due on Wednesday, he said.

Arafat was rushed from the West Bank to a French military hospital on Friday after being ill for two weeks with what was initially described as a bad flu.

The Palestinian leader’s symptoms included vomiting and diarrhoea.

Doctors were trying to determine whether Arafat might be suffering from a viral infection or some type of poisoning.

But on Thursday they said toxicology tests on the Palestinian leader and turned up no traces of poison.

Rashid, speaking to reporters at a Paris hotel where a contingent of Palestinian officials was staying, said Arafat was eating again yesterday and able to keep food down.