France set to release Arafat medical records

Yasser Arafat’s nephew, who has called for an investigation into the Palestinian leader’s death in France, can have access to his medical records, officials said today.

With rumours still circulating that Arafat was poisoned, France has been under pressure to release information about his two weeks of treatment at a Paris military hospital where he died last week.

Because Arafat’s nephew Nasser al-Kidwa is also the Palestinian representative to the UN, giving him the records could offer a useful compromise.

It would allow France to abide by its strict privacy laws while also responding to the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to determine the cause of Arafat’s death.

French officials insist that the law prevents them from making Arafat’s records public and they have refused to reveal his cause of death.

General Christian Estripeau, a spokesman for the French military’s health wing, said al-Kidwa could have access to Arafat’s medical records if he asks.

“His case has already been studied. I think that if he makes a demand it would be accepted,” Estripeau said.

The Palestinian leadership is sending a delegation to Paris to seek access to the records.

Arafat’s personal doctor has said that poisoning is the likely cause of death but a French newspaper said yesterday that he suffered from cirrhosis of them liver.