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Palestinian officials: Israel only suspect in Arafat death Palestinian officials: Israel only suspect in Arafat death
(about 3 hours later)
Palestinian officials say Israel is the "only suspect" in the death of leader Yasser Arafat following a Swiss report that said his remains contained high levels of radioactive polonium. The Palestinian committee investigating the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 has said Israel is the "only suspect".
The head of a Palestinian committee set up to investigate Arafat's 2004 death called it an "assassination". A Swiss report published this week said specimens from Arafat's exhumed body contained unexpectedly high levels of the radioactive element, polonium-210.
He said investigations would continue "to confirm all the details and all elements of the case". The Palestinian investigators said the report showed Arafat did not die because of old age or ill health, but was the victim of an "assassination".
Israel has repeatedly denied any involvement in Arafat's death. Israel's government has dismissed any suggestion that it was involved.
Arafat's widow, Suha, has said she believes the latest report proves he was assassinated. However, she said her late husband had many enemies around the world and she could not directly accuse anyone. The Palestinian leader died in Paris, less than a month after being taken ill in the West Bank. His medical records said he had a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
The Palestinian leader died in a military hospital in Paris in 2004 after suddenly being taken ill at his presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. His widow, Suha, objected to a post-mortem at the time but agreed to allow Swiss, Russian and French experts to take samples from her late husband's remains last November after traces of polonium-210 were found on Arafat's personal effects in 2011.
"We say that Israel is the prime and only suspect in the case of Yasser Arafat's assassination, and we will continue to carry out a thorough investigation to find out and confirm all the details and all elements of the case," Palestinian committee head Tawfik Terawi told a news conference in Ramallah. 'Investigation continuing'
It is not clear how the Palestinian investigators believe the poison was administered to Arafat, who was surrounded by guards and a close circle of aides at his compound. At a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, the head of the Palestinian committee, Tawfik Terawi, directly blamed Israel for Arafat's death.
The BBC's Yolande Knell, who was at Friday's hearing, said that in response to that question, the head of the committee said there had been a lot of interviews and he had "security information" but could not make details public at the moment. "It is not important that I say here that he was killed by polonium,'' he said. "But I say, with all the details available about Yasser Arafat's death, that he was killed and that Israel killed him."
A report by Swiss scientists said Arafat's remains contained "unexpectedly high" amounts of polonium-210. However, they could not confirm it had caused his death. Mr Terawi did not present evidence of Israeli involvement, other than what he said were "statements by Israeli leaders who at the time said that Yasser Arafat should go, and should disappear".
His remains were exhumed last year following tests on his belongings that suggested he could have been poisoned. "We say that Israel is the prime, fundamental and only suspect in the case of Yasser Arafat's assassination, and we will continue to carry out a thorough investigation to find out and confirm all the details and all elements of the case," he added.
About 60 samples were divided between Swiss and Russian investigators and a French team carrying out an investigation at his widow's request. It is not clear how the Palestinian investigators believe the poison was administered to Arafat, who was surrounded by guards and a close circle of aides at his Muqataa compound in Ramallah at the time.
France began a murder inquiry in August 2012 after the preliminary findings of polonium by the Swiss scientists, who have been working with an al-Jazeera documentary crew. The BBC's Yolande Knell, who was at Friday's hearing, said that in response to that question, Mr Terawi said he had "security information" but could not make it public.
One Russian official said last month that no traces of polonium had been found. Israel emphatically denied the allegations.
Our correspondent says some Palestinian officials have already called for a new international inquiry into Arafat's death. "I will state this as simply and clearly as I can: Israel did not kill Arafat, period. And that's all there is to it," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the BBC.
Scientists from the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland, had carried out a detailed examination of Arafat's medical records, samples from his remains and items he had taken into the hospital in Paris. "The Palestinians need to stop levelling these accusations without a shadow of proof. Enough is enough."
The biological materials included pieces of Mr Arafat's bones and soil samples from around his corpse. Suha Arafat believes the findings prove her late husband was murdered, but says he had many enemies around the world and could not directly accuse anyone.
Prof Francois Bochud told a news conference on Thursday that the high level of polonium detected "by definition... indicates third party involvement... Our results offer moderate backing for the theory of poisoning".
But he added: "Was polonium the cause of the death for certain? The answer is no, we cannot show categorically that hypothesis that the poisoning caused was this or that."
The scientists said they had been unable to reach a more definitive conclusion because of the time passed since Arafat's death, the limited samples available and the confused "chain of custody" of some of the specimens.
Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance. It is found naturally in low doses in food and in the body, but can be fatal if ingested in high doses.
Arafat led the Palestine Liberation Organisation for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996.
His official medical records say he died from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
Suha Arafat said she had no doubt her late husband had been assassinated but refused to point the finger at Israel.
"I can't accuse anybody. Everybody wants to accuse Israel - I can't accuse - I can't jump into conclusion," she told the BBC."I can't accuse anybody. Everybody wants to accuse Israel - I can't accuse - I can't jump into conclusion," she told the BBC.
"Now the case is in the French jurisdiction, I wanted to document this crime - this crime I want it documented for history, actually." She has called for an international inquiry, but Mr Terawi said that was a decision for the Palestinian Authority. The French authorities have opened a murder probe.
Scientific findings
On Wednesday, al-Jazeera revealed the findings of 10 experts at the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"New toxicological and radio-toxicological investigations were performed, demonstrating unexpectedly high levels of polonium-210 and lead-210 activity in many of the analysed specimens" taken from Arafat's ribs, pelvis and soil that absorbed his bodily fluids, their report said.
Despite the lack of adequate biological samples and the long period between burial and the investigation, they concluded that the results "moderately support" the theory that Arafat's death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210.
The head of the Swiss team, Prof Francois Bochud, told reporters on Thursday: "Was polonium the cause of the death for certain? The answer is no, we cannot show categorically that hypothesis that the poisoning caused was this or that."
At Friday's news conference in Ramallah, the medical expert on the Palestinian committee quoted the separate report by the Russian Federal Medico-Biological Agency.
"The outcome of the comprehensive report on the levels of polonium-210 and the development of his illness does not give sufficient evidence to support the decision that polonium-210 caused acute radiation syndrome leading to death," said Dr Abdullah Bashir.
But Dr Bashir noted the Russian scientists had still found "large amounts" of polonium-210 in Arafat's remains, and said their report further "supports our theory" that he did not die of disease or old age, "but rather by poisonous material".