 GAY PAREE - Suha Arafat was given the medical file of her late husband Yasser Arafat and flew off to Tunisia Friday as the late Palestinian president's nephew was expected in the French capital to pick up the same documents amid some controversy.
| DAMN HIM HE HAD TO HAVE UTTERED THOSE ACCOUNT NUMBERS!!! |
Defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said early Saturday that Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Qidwa, who was travelling to Paris, had the right to access to the information if he requested it. But the Paris lawyers of Suha Arafat had said the dossier should only be given to "the children and the widow." Bureau told AFP that it was not up to the ministry to confirm or deny what the lawyers believed but in any case Qidwa had the right to see the file if he so wished.
| But they gave it to Suha, and she skipped town. So sorry. |
Earlier, the lawyers said in a statement to AFP: "Mrs. Suha Arafat received at 3:45 pm today a copy of the medical file of her husband, president Yasser Arafat, which was released by the authorities at the Percy military hospital."
| That's when she decided she hadn't seen Tunis in awhile... |
"She has begun to study it," said the statement by lawyers Philippe Plantade and Jean-Marie Burguburu. The lawyers' statement said Suha Arafat had thanked "France, President Jacques Chirac and all the French authorities particularly the hematology and emergency hospital staff from the heart of her bottom bottom of her heart for their exceptional support in covering everything up." French officials alongside Suha and their nine-year-old daughter have officially designated Qidwa, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, next-of-kin. Under French law, medical details can be released only to family. A Palestinian official said Friday that Qidwa had left Gaza for Paris "in his capacity as a relative" to pick up the dossier. On his return to the Palestinian territories, Qidwa was expected to hand over the medical file to a ministerial council set up to investigate causes of Arafat's death.
Suha, invoking French medical confidentiality laws, has kept a tight grip on information relating to her husband's treatment during his last days. Under French law, the family may decide to make the files public. After receiving the medical file Suha Arafat left Paris for Tunis, where she also maintains a lavish residence in the city's chic northern suburb of Gammarth, said Plantade. She flew on a private plane owned by her deceased husband, said the lawyer. A French defence ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said medical files usually took up to two weeks to clear before being handed over, but in this case the documents were ready immediately. |
