Exclusive: Yasser Arafat Poisoned with Polonium; Tests Reveal Body Had 18 Times Po's Normal Level

Swiss scientists -- who conducted intensive tests on samples taken from Yasser Arafat's body -- have found that at least 18 times the normal levels of radioactive polonium in his remains. The scientists said they were confident up to an 83 percent level that the late Palestinian leader was poisoned with it -- a conclusion that "moderately supports" polonium as the cause of his death -- the Al Jazeera website reports exclusively today (November 6, 2013).

A 108-page report by the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland -- which was obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera -- found unnaturally high levels of polonium in Arafat's ribs and pelvis, and in soil stained with his decaying organs.

The Swiss scientists -- along with French and Russian teams -- obtained the samples last November after Arafat's body was exhumed from a mausoleum in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Arafat died on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75.

Dave Barclay -- a United Kingdom forensic scientist and retired detective -- told Al Jazeera that with these results he was wholly convinced that Arafat was murdered. "Yasser Arafat died of polonium poisoning," he said. "We found the smoking gun that caused his death. What we don't know is who was holding the gun at the time."

Suha Arafat -- the Palestinian leader's widow -- received a copy of the Swiss scientists' report in Paris yesterday (November 5). "When they came with the results, I'm mourning Yasser again," she said. "It's like you just told me he died."