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Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid, told French radio she felt Israel could have poisoned Arafat.(AP Photo)
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| By Associated Press November 14, 2004 |
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France's health minister said Sunday there was no reason to suspect Yasser Arafat was poisoned because French legal authorities would have intervened if medical tests had pointed to wrongdoing.
The 75-year-old Palestinian leader who had been suffering from poor health for years died Thursday in Paris, where he was taken Oct. 29 for treatment after tests showed he had a low count of blood platelets.
"Nothing leads us to think that there was poisoning," Philippe Douste-Blazy said in an interview with a French Jewish radio station.
"Otherwise legal authorities would have had to take the case into consideration," he said, adding that he had not seen Arafat's medical file.
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"It is completely possible that they poisoned him. I cannot tell you that, medically, we have any proof."
Leila Shahid, Palestinian envoy to Paris
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The intense secrecy surrounding Arafat's final days has aroused frustration in many corners of the Arab world.
Neither Palestinian officials nor Arafat's French medical team have announced a cause of death.
The French health minister's comments came after the Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid, told French radio she felt Israel could have poisoned Arafat.
"It is a very deep, logical conviction," Shahid told Europe-1 radio. "The Israelis have tried to rid themselves of Yasser Arafat since Sharon's arrival to power."
"It is completely possible that they poisoned him," she said, adding, "I cannot tell you that, medically, we have any proof."
On Saturday, a top Palestinian official, Nasser al-Kidwa, said it was a "possibility" that Arafat had been poisoned. But he made clear there is nothing to back up this claim.
Al-Kidwa, a nephew of Arafat's and the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, called for an investigation into the cause of death of the Palestinian leader.
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