Report: France opens murder probe in Arafat death
PARIS (AP) - French prosecutors opened a murder inquiry into the death of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday, judicial officials told a French new agency, after his widow and a TV investigation raised new questions about whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned.
There have long been rumors in the Arab world that Arafat was poisoned, and a Swiss lab's recent finding of elevated levels of a rare and highly lethal radioactive substance on Arafat's clothing has fed those claims.
However, the Institute of Radiation Physics said its findings were inconclusive and that only exhuming Arafat's remains could bring possible clarity. Palestinian officials have waffled on the matter - initially approving the exhumation and then saying the matter needed more study - only further fueling suspicions.
Still, since Arafat's death, several senior Palestinian officials have alleged that Israel poisoned the Palestinian leader, a charge Israel vehemently denied.
Testing Arafat's bones for polonium-210 - the substance found on his clothes - could offer the last chance to get to the bottom of Palestinian claims that their leader was poisoned, though some experts say it may already be too late for conclusive answers.
Scientists caution that polonium decays quickly and that an autopsy needs to be done right away.
Arafat died in a French military hospital in 2004 of what doctors have said was a massive stroke, but the Swiss lab's tests have renewed interest in his death. The findings were first broadcast by Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, which approached the lab on behalf of Arafat's widow, Suha. She provided the lab with his clothing and other belongings.
When the results were released, Suha Arafat filed a complaint in French court asking for a murder investigation. The two judicial officials - who would only speak on condition of anonymity because of office rules - said a judge will be appointed to run the investigation shortly.
The complaint is open and does not name a responsible party, as is a common practice in French courts.
There have long been rumors in the Arab world that Arafat was poisoned, and a Swiss lab's recent finding of elevated levels of a rare and highly lethal radioactive substance on Arafat's clothing has fed those claims.
However, the Institute of Radiation Physics said its findings were inconclusive and that only exhuming Arafat's remains could bring possible clarity. Palestinian officials have waffled on the matter - initially approving the exhumation and then saying the matter needed more study - only further fueling suspicions.
Still, since Arafat's death, several senior Palestinian officials have alleged that Israel poisoned the Palestinian leader, a charge Israel vehemently denied.
Testing Arafat's bones for polonium-210 - the substance found on his clothes - could offer the last chance to get to the bottom of Palestinian claims that their leader was poisoned, though some experts say it may already be too late for conclusive answers.
Scientists caution that polonium decays quickly and that an autopsy needs to be done right away.
Arafat died in a French military hospital in 2004 of what doctors have said was a massive stroke, but the Swiss lab's tests have renewed interest in his death. The findings were first broadcast by Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, which approached the lab on behalf of Arafat's widow, Suha. She provided the lab with his clothing and other belongings.
When the results were released, Suha Arafat filed a complaint in French court asking for a murder investigation. The two judicial officials - who would only speak on condition of anonymity because of office rules - said a judge will be appointed to run the investigation shortly.
The complaint is open and does not name a responsible party, as is a common practice in French courts.
Guess evidence chains are a bit more trust-based in France than in advanced nations. So his clothes appear with radiation after years of being who knows where. Yeah, that would go over really well here.
I'm just curious why Israel chose to do it at that particular time and not some other time.
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And no, I don't support the Israeli murder of Palestinian civilians any more than I support the Palestinian murder of Israeli civilians.
Kind of hoping the autopsy finds he died of sudden decompression at 30,000 over Scotland while solo piloting a 747 over Loch Ness and killing no one but him.
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No... better would be blunt force trauma due to impact collision while fully conscious for the minutes the plane free fell.Â
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Yeah, I like that one better
Oh... sorry... he had nothing to do with that one but...ah ...(to heck with) him anyway.
Either way he's dead. What difference does it make now. You can't believe they could find who did it after all this.
Oh goody, one of the worlds worst human beings and the fRENCH care about how he died? Arafat is dancing in hell and nobody should care as to how he got there. At least I don't.