Arafat to Be Taken To Paris Hospital: Officials

Additional Reporting By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff

CAIRO, October 28 (IslamOnline.net) - Ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is to be moved to a hospital in Paris late on Thursday, October 28, or Friday, October 29, after Israel agreed to allow his return, press reports and Palestinian officials said.

Well-placed Arab sources told IslamOnline.net earlier in the day that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were making intensive consultations with the US and a number of European countries to pressure Israel into securing Arafat a return to Palestinian lands after the journey.

The consultations came before doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment.

Fifteen doctors - including Palestinians and specialists rushed in from Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt - examined the 75-year-old Arafat on Thursday and decided he would be able to get the best treatment in Paris, one of the doctors was quoted by the Associated Press as saying on condition of anonymity.

Reuters said that he would be moved to the hospital on Thursday or Friday.

The news was confirmed by Palestinian officials, Aljazeera said, without mentioning their names.

Arafat's wife Suha arrived in the West Bank on Thursday to be with the ailing president, her mother said.

Suha Arafat, who lives in Paris, has not seen her husband since a Palestinian Intifadah Israel broke out in 2000. She had flown to Amman from France.

Assurances

The news came after prominent Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Al-Tibi said Israeli officials assured the Palestinians on Thursday that if Arafat recovered, he would be able to return to the West Bank

Tibi, an Arafat confidant, said the promise had come from Dov Weisglass, a senior aide of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Senior government spokesperson Raanan Gissin noted earlier in the day that Israel was unwilling to make such promises.

One Palestinian official said earlier he expected Arafat to be flown by helicopter to Amman.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to expel - or even assassinate - the Palestinian leader and suggested that if he left the Palestinian territories he would not be allowed back.

Health Crisis

Observers considered the transfer of Arafat to a Paris hospital a demonstration of the severity of the health crisis and mark the first time for him to leave his battered Ramallah headquarters since he was confined there by Israel in 2002.

A close Arafat associate was quoted by the AP as saying 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.

At times, Arafat appeared confused, not recognizing some of his visitors, he added on condition of anonymity.

Reports said Arafat has formed a tripartite leadership committee -- comprising former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, current premier Qorei and the president of the Palestinian National Council Salim Al-Zaanoun (the PLO's parliament in exile) -- to ensure a smooth transition of power.

The reports were, however, denied by a senior Arafat aide.

Hundreds of Palestinians and media people gathered outside Arafat's compound.

Arafat is the most popular Palestinian leader and the symbol of the Palestinian national struggle.