Israeli army on high alert as Arafat lapses into coma
Yasser Arafat has lapsed into a coma, a senior Palestinian official said today after the ailing leader was rushed into intensive care at a French military hospital following a sharp deterioration in his health.
The Israeli military was placed on high alert, and was following the developments closely, security sources said.
The Israeli army has a contingency plan, called New Leaf, to deal with any fallout from Arafat’s death, including possible Palestinian riots.
The military has not yet moved forces to anticipated problem areas, but commanders were told to be on standby.
There was some confusion over the state of Arafat’s health. Two Arafat aides denied he was in a coma, and French hospital and military officials would not comment on the ailing Arafat’s health.
The 75-year-old Palestinian leader was rushed for emergency treatment to the Percy Military Training Hospital outside Paris last Friday. Since then, his condition has largely remained a mystery, with Palestinians issuing conflicting reports about his health.
A senior Palestinian with close access to the French medical team insisted today Arafat was comatose – but would not say when he lost consciousness.
But Mohammed Rashid, Arafat’s financial adviser, strongly denied reports that Arafat had slipped into a coma.
“Last night, several blood and bone marrow tests were done that required the president to be in an isolation unit for several hours, and there is no truth to any of the reports that he is in a coma,” Rashid said.
Still, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, senior Palestinian officials convened an emergency meeting after learning of the deterioration in Arafat’s condition, said Sakher Habash, a member of the Central Committee of the ruling Fatah movement.
But Israeli media, citing Israeli intelligence officials, said Arafat suffered organ failure and that he had lost consciousness several times. The Maariv newspaper said Arafat’s condition was “very critical.”
But some of Arafat’s top aides denied there had been any setback and accused Israel of spreading rumours.
“These unfounded reports are not coming from French medical teams, these are leaks from the Israeli side,” said Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief.
“Leaking such rumours will only complicate things and also complicate the situation within the Palestinian public,” he told reporters in Paris.
Undoubtedly conscious of the anxiety back home at the thought of a future without Arafat – who has led the Palestinians for 40 years with no obvious successor – they have previously described his condition as improving and said more tests were being done.
Khaled Salem, Arafat’s top aide, said earlier today that the medical analysis was “deepening a little bit” but he remained confident Arafat would recover.
“There are no setbacks,” he told said outside the hospital. “It’s no secret he’s ill, that’s why he’s in France, but there is no threat, there is no danger, no serious degradation.”
However, top Israeli security officials were in session today to study the repercussions in the Middle East should Arafat die, officials said.
The security officials, including Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Army Chief Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, were to focus their weekly meeting on the reports that Arafat’s health took a sudden turn for the worse, the officials said.
Speculation in Israel has ranged from a viral infection to stomach cancer. French doctors said initial tests had ruled out leukaemia but gave few other details.
Arafat’s brother, Fathi Arafat, has had stomach cancer for four years and is currently in a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, in an advanced stage of the disease, according to doctors there.
On Tuesday, one source who said he had been briefed on the Palestinian leader’s status said his condition was “fatal” – but he gave no further details and the claim could not be confirmed.
But yesterday, Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France who has been serving as Arafat’s official spokeswoman in Paris, said Arafat felt well enough to ask about the US presidential election.
An aide later issued a statement in Arafat’s name congratulating George Bush on his re-election.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel is tracking Arafat’s health “very carefully.
“Our goal is to prepare for the day after, if and when he dies,” he said.
Israeli intelligence was widely criticised after it was caught off guard last week by the sudden deterioration in Arafat’s health.
Shalom said his condition “is very serious”, but gave no details. At the same time, he said: “it is too soon to eulogise Yasser Arafat.”
