 Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat opened his eyes late yesterday and was able to communicate with doctors who were ``encouraged,'' Agence France-Presse reported, citing Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. The 75-year-old Palestinian Authority president was flown from his West Bank compound in Ramallah to a French military hospital near Paris a week ago for treatment of a blood disorder. Israeli media reported Arafat brain dead on Thursday, which was denied by Palestinian officials. Arafat's health ``has not reached a stage that is irreversible, as some media have reported, and we hope his condition will improve in the Machines are keeping Arafat alive until his family and officials from France, Israel and Egypt decide where he will be buried, two unidentified Bush administration officials told the Associated Press. |