Uncertainty reigns as ill Arafat heads to France

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- With a team of doctors and his wife by his side, ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was being readied to fly to France early Friday for medical treatment.

Arafat, 75, was to be transported by helicopter from his West Bank compound to Jordan, and from there to Paris. A helipad was being readied Thursday night, Palestinian officials said, with workers clearing a courtyard of rubble under the glare of floodlights. 



Arafat's wife, Suha, who lives in Paris, arrived at his headquarters Thursday, and the decision to have him receive medical care in France was announced shortly after. The two, who have a young daughter, have mainly lived apart since the outbreak of the current Palestinian uprising, or intifada, a little more than four years ago. 



Arafat has been suffering from stomach pains, fever and nausea for nearly two weeks, his aides say. On Wednesday night, he briefly lapsed into unconsciousness, according to news accounts and Palestinian officials -- a development that triggered the urgent attention of doctors, and prompted senior aides to gather at the compound. On Thursday, his condition was said to have stabilized. 



News reports said blood tests revealed that Arafat suffered from a low platelet count, which interferes with blood-clotting ability. More tests were needed to determine the reason for that, his doctors told reporters gathered at Arafat's headquarters, known as the Muqata. Arafat has spent more than two years at the headquarters under effective house arrest by the Israeli government. 



Although the Palestinian Authority president was reported to have spent much of Thursday sleeping, he did sit for photographs and video footage shot inside his compound. Surrounded by doctors and aides and clad in pale-blue pajamas and a dark stocking cap -- one of the rare times he did not appear in his trademark military fatigues and checkered keffiyeh headdress -- Arafat grinned broadly for the cameras and clasped his doctors' hands, but he appeared very pale and shrunken. 



The Palestinian leader's personal doctor, Ashraf Kurdi, told reporters that Arafat was in

no immediate danger and was in good condition and high spirits.

In a reversal of past policy, Israel promised that Arafat could return to his compound after medical treatment. Previously, Israel had not prevented him from leaving, but threatened to demolish the compound if he did. Arafat's Gaza headquarters were destroyed earlier in the conflict. 



Israel characterized its move as a humanitarian gesture. 



"Israel will not impose any restrictions" on Arafat's return to the West Bank following treatment, said Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. 



In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. officials had have been in touch with Palestinian and Israeli officials regarding Arafat's health and praised the two sides for the "constructive manner" in which they had worked out arrangements for medical treatment. 



"These are not political matters. The gentleman is very ill. We hope he gets the medical care he needs to return to health," Boucher said. 



The cause of Arafat's infirmity remained unclear. Those close to him have blamed his episodes of fever and nausea on a case of the flu or gallstones. But medical officials said other, far more serious ailments could be behind the symptoms. 



Professor Yaron Niv, the head of gastrointestinal diseases at Israel's Beilinson Hospital, said based on descriptions of Arafat's condition, he could be suffering from a disease of the stomach, colon or gall bladder. Cancer of the gallbladder, for example, is extremely malignant, Niv told Israel Radio. 



Aides to Arafat announced earlier that diagnostic tests had ruled out cancer of the digestive tract. 



Israeli officials have said little in public about the Palestinian leader's condition, but they have had intensive talks about the potential repercussions if Arafat were to die or be forced by ill health to give up his duties. 



Palestinians, too, have held a series of consultations, but they have been careful to avoid speculating about what would happen if Arafat did not recover. 



Arafat's associates are secretive about his condition even under normal conditions. 



Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom suggested if Arafat were gone from the scene, long-moribund peace efforts could be restarted. 



"We always said we would be willing to talk to a Palestinian leadership that was prepared once and for all to bring an end to bloodshed," Shalom told Israel Radio. 



The Palestinian leader's medical status has overshadowed -- at least temporarily -- debate within Israel over Sharon's plan to pull Jewish settlers and Israeli troops out of the Gaza Strip. The prime minister's initiative won the backing of Israeli lawmakers earlier this week.