Former Palestinian leader Arafat may have been poisoned, tests reveal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been killed by radioactive polonium, tests on his body have reportedly revealed, according to Sky News.

A Swiss team asked to examine samples taken from his corpse when his grave was exhumed last November allegedly said their tests "moderately support" claims he was poisoned with polonium-210.

Arafat's wife Suha said the findings, which were contained in a report published by Al Jazeera, revealed a "real crime" and a "political assassination".

"We have scientific proof that this man was killed," she added.

Arafat died in November 2004 at a military hospital in Paris after he was taken ill the previous month with diarrhoea and vomiting.

Doctors said he had suffered a massive stroke, although they were unable to find the origin of his illness.

French prosecutors opened a murder investigation in August 2012, after traces of polonium-210 - the same radioactive substance that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinkenko in 2006 - were reportedly found on some of Arafat's belongings.

His underwear, woolly hat and toothbrush were among the items tested for polonium, according to the report.

British forensic scientist Professor David Barclay said the findings were a "smoking gun" for those who suspect foul play.

"In my opinion, it is absolutely certain that the cause of his illness was polonium poisoning," he said. "The levels present in him are sufficient to have caused death."

Professor Barclay said a miniscule dose of the deadly isotope may have been slipped into Arafat's drink, food, eye drops or toothpaste.

The substance must have been made in a nuclear reactor, he claimed. Arafat did not accuse any country or person for her husband's death and acknowledged that he had many enemies.

However, Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which Arafat chaired for more than 40 years, claimed Israel was behind the alleged poisoning.

"President Arafat passed away as a victim of an organised terrorist assassination perpetrated by a state ... which was looking to get rid of him," he said.

The Israeli government has denied any role in Arafat's death, noting that he was 75 years old and had an unhealthy lifestyle.

Some experts have also questioned whether he could have died from polonium poisoning, given that he did not lose all his hair and made a brief recovery during his illness.