Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Samples of Arafat's Remains Dug Up at His Grave; Will Take Three Months to Determine If Poisoned

Yasser Arafat's political heirs today (November 27, 2012) opened his grave in Ramallah, West Bank, and foreign experts took samples of the iconic Palestinian leader's remains as part of a long-shot attempt -- eight years after his mysterious death -- to determine whether he was poisoned, according to the Times of Israel website.

Arafat died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill at his West Bank compound, at the time besieged by Israeli troops.

The immediate cause of his death was a stroke, but the underlying reasons were unclear, leading to widespread belief in the Arab world that Israel poisoned the 75-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism. Israel has denied involvement in Arafat's death.

The probe of Arafat's death was revived this past summer when a Swiss lab detected elevated traces of a lethal radioactive substance, polonium-210, in biological stains on his clothing. Dr. Abdullah Bashir -- a member of the Palestinian investigative team -- said it would take at least three months for results to come back.

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