 Yasser Arafat's medical records show no sign he was poisoned but are inconclusive as to the cause of his death, his nephew said Monday. At a news conference in Paris, Nasser al-Kidwa pinned some of the blame for the Palestinian leader's death on his long confinement to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. "I believe the Israeli authorities are largely responsible for what happened, at least because of the confinement of the late president to the compound in very bad conditions for three years," al-Kidwa said about two hours after getting the medical files from French authorities.
| "... an' they boxed him in there for what? For nuttin'! He din't do nuttin'!" |
Al-Kidwa said the dossier - which is 558 pages, plus X-rays - would be "put at the disposal of the Palestinian Authority," which has launched an inquiry to try to determine a cause of Arafat's death on Nov. 11 in a Paris-area military hospital after two weeks of treatment. The lack of solid information about the cause of death has provided fertile ground for rumors in the Arab world that he was poisoned, despite earlier official denials. "The issue here is the right of the Palestinian people and our duty to reach in the future a final conclusion in this regard," said al-Kidwa. He said toxicology tests were conducted and "no poisons known to doctors were found." He did not rule out poisoning categorically, saying "we don't have proof" that it wasn't a cause.
| "Might be one of those sneaky unknown Zionist poisons" |
| "Iocaine powder! I'd bet my life on it!" |
| "Hokay, who switched the glass ---- erk ----- [thunk]" |
| "No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!" |
"I am not asserting anything, but we are not in a position to exclude anything given the facts," said al-Kidwa, adding that he had not had time to read the entire dossier yet. He also said that the files gave no clear diagnosis for the reasons of Arafat's death. "For the French authorities, medically, the file was considered closed.
"For us, and because of the lack of a clear diagnosis, a question mark remains and personally I believe that it will remain there for some time to come," al-Kidwa said. Al-Kidwa, who is also the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, was traveling to New York later Monday. He did not say when the dossier would be given to the Palestinian Authority.
| ... or even how many pages. |
French officials have said that judicial authorities here would have acted had they suspected wrongdoing - which is as far as officials can go, without violating medical privacy laws, toward saying that poisoning was not a cause. His nephew took possession of the records Monday, despite objections from Arafat's widow, Suha.
| "THOSE ARE MINE! MINE, DAMN YOU! THEY'RE WORTH MONEY!" |
Suha Arafat, who also has taken possession of his medical records, had threatened a legal fight to prevent other family members from obtaining them. Her lawyers said late Sunday that the Percy Military Training Hospital that treated her husband "would alone face the consequences" if the records were released to any other family members. "Madame Arafat fully understands the diplomatic and historic reasons that exist, but that does not mean the state should be able to ignore the law," the lawyers' statement said. Al-Kidwa played down Suha Arafat's objections, saying "the Palestinian people have the right to know."
| "Something terrible's gonna happen to her car. Just ignore her." |
French officials have been caught between medical privacy laws and a desire to ensure that the rumors about Arafat's death do not disturb the transition of power in the Palestinian Authority. French law does not specify how closely related a family member must be to have access to medical information, and French officials said they had determined that al-Kidwa qualifies.
| "He's close enough for us to pass this hot potato to him" |
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